The train at Balurghat station. A Telegraph picture

Balurghat, Nov. 25: People of all ages and cutting across party lines stayed up till midnight yesterday to welcome the arrival of the first direct train from Calcutta.

The driver and the guard of the train were overwhelmed by the reception they got from the cheering crowd as the train reached Balurghat station.

Railway minister Lalu Prasad had flagged off the train from Chitpur in Calcutta yesterday. The train began its return journey around 10 this morning after a small programme at the station attended by ministers Biswanath Chowdhury and Narayan Biswas, Balurghat MP Ranen Barman and the divisional railway manager of Northeast Frontier Railway, Mehtab Singh.

Though the leaders’ speeches were all aimed at claiming credit for their respective parties, the people in the streets were very happy with the development.

“Our dream has come true. We had been demanding a direct express train for long time,” said housewife Paromita Sanyal. For her it mattered little which political party had got it done.

The speakers also stressed on the need for extension of the line from Buniyadpur to Kaliaganj and the installation of a signalling system. They also demanded a stop at Gangarampur station.

District Congress president Swapan Biswas, the lone invitee from his party, mentioned the “contribution” of Union minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi and former railway minister late A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury towards achieving the “ultimate success”.

In his speech, Singh assured the people that the new signalling system would come up in three months. He also promised that the railway would accept the popular demand for a regular stop at Dum Dum near Calcutta. The train from Balurghat was initially supposed to start from Sealdah, but the terminus was later shifted to Chitpur.