Railways thinks all the stations in West Bengal are connected well, like no big deal. On top of that, ER just assumes BWN is a big suburban stop. The only fancy train, the NJP Shatabdi, that stops at BWN gets about 55 passengers each way. There are more cases like this. PNBE HWH VB skipped DGR in the first draft schedule but then added it back after some political pushing. Now look at how many people use it. TATA-PNBE VB also skips PRR even though there's space and a better route. Actually, all the new trains launched lately are ignoring PRR since CNI. Unless there's some serious political deal made, ain't nothing gonna change.

Many foolish decisions are made by default in Eastern Railway, and nothing is done to fix them. 22303 should have ideally been HWH-BSB instead of HWH-GAYA with extra stops. It doesn’t make sense to run only to GAYA with a 16-car rake, especially when it’s behind RNC Shatabdi up to DHN. It seems ER hasn't learned much since the HWH-DHN DD fiasco. And BWN has always been treated poorly by ER, just because it’s a hub for suburban trains. According to ER, it's acceptable for 22301 to arrive 30 minutes late every day at MLDT, but the train won't stop at BWN. At least speed up the train a bit, for goodness' sake. The same goes for many other major SF trains; so many skip BWN, especially those on the chord line. This stop would be really beneficial for long-distance passengers traveling from HWH and SDAH divisions, yet remains out of reach.

And what can be said about BGP VB? It skips Bardhaman and stops at Nonihat, Barahat.

Isn't it ironic that we find ourselves in a situation where two premium trains from the same CDO are competing for passengers? Such ridiculousness can only happen in ER! Kolkata is a city that wakes up early. The early morning transportation is excellent. Train 22303 could easily start an hour earlier and run all the way to BSB. Yes, the end-to-end travel time at BSB would be minimal, and it would probably reach HWH around 10 PM, but there would be no doubt about the passenger numbers. All 16 cars would be filled, as the demand in the KOAA-BSB sector is extremely high throughout the year. Even train 12019/20 has a minimal travel time at RNC. Like you said, it seems ER hasn’t learned anything from the HWH-DHN DD disaster.

I won’t add anything more about BWN other than my original rant; you and everyone else have already made great points. Let’s just enjoy the circus unfolding in the meantime!

Here's the thing, there's a pattern to visiting the Basukinath Mandir.

First, you go to Baba Baidyanath and then you visit Baba Basukinath. Visiting Basukinath exclusively is not advised.

Anyway, it's always better to deboard at DUMK rather than Nonihat and take direct transportation to the temple.

Nonihat is a useless stop. The exclusion of BWN can never be justified by stops like Nonihat.

Mujhe lagta hai ki social media par frustration express karne se koi fayda nahi hoga. Agar humein (BWN ke residents) situation ko improve karna hai, toh humein action lena hoga. Agar hum sab is baat par agree ho jaayein, toh main khush hoon agar hum BWN ke railfans ek din milke is par baat kar saken aur koi tarika nikal saken, demand kaise karein, ya agar demand reject ho jaaye toh aage kya karna hai, yeh sab discuss karne ke liye.