Railways Run 140 Shramik Special Trains in Just 6 days in Lockdown
Highlights:
• Railway has run 140 Shramik special trains so far.
• According to the railway, 1 lakh 35 thousand migrant labourers have been transported to their destination by these trains.
• More trains are to be run in the next few days.
• Maharashtra government will also bring students from Delhi.
For the first time in the history of the country, the Indian Railways has worked fiercely for the migrants. In a few days, lakhs of people have been transported to their homes by Shramik Special trains. Railways said on Wednesday that it has run 140 labour special trains since May 1, which led to transporting more than 1,35,000 migrant labourers stranded in different parts of the country due to the lockdown. Railways said that 42 trains were planned for Wednesday, and even after that 10 more trains ran. A Railway spokesperson said, “We are planning to run a few more trains by the end of the day. The Railways ran 88 trains for migrant workers till Tuesday night. These migrant workers were trapped at workplaces due to the lockdown implemented in the wake of the Coronavirus epidemic.
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25 Special Trains Run From Maharashtra
There are 24 compartments in Shramik Special trains and 72 seats in each compartment but for maintaining the social distance, the railways is seating 54 passengers in one compartment. According to the information received from Mumbai, the Maharashtra government said that since the railways started the labour special service, 25 trains have transported migrant workers from the state to their respective states. A statement issued from the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s Office said, “(Under Chief Secretary) Nitin has informed the Cabinet that till now 25 special trains from the state have left with migrant labourers. West Bengal and Karnataka are exceptions.” Meanwhile, the Karnataka government on Tuesday cancelled 10 trains running from the state in the next five days. However, it said that 3 trains from Bengaluru to Bihar will leave as per the schedule.
About 80 Lakhs Cost Incurred on a Train!
Railways have not yet officially disclosed how much money has been spent on these services, although the government has stated that the cost was shared between states in the ratio of 85 and 15. Officials have indicated that the Railways spent Rs 80 lakh on each service. Gujarat has been at the forefront of trains’ departure since the start of the services followed by Kerala at the second position. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have remained the top states in terms of the train destinations. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has decided to bring back the stranded students of the state who have been preparing for the UPSC examination in Delhi.
Maximum Shramik Special Trains Coming to Bihar
Railways have given a maximum of 29 special trains to Bihar. 10 of them arrived on Tuesday. While 13 are coming on Wednesday. 5 trains have arrived from Ahmedabad to Sitamarhi, Bangalore to Danapur, Kota to Katihar, Surat to Barauni, and Telangana to Khagaria. Immigrant workers and students are coming from these trains. 1200 passengers are being transported in each train. As such, 34,800 immigrant workers and students from all 29 special trains are coming home.
Only 2 Trains Reaching West Bengal
The neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) has received 27 trains. A total of 13 special trains are arriving in Odisha, 13 in Jharkhand. Only 3 special trains have reached Rajasthan. Till now, the state government of West Bengal has permitted for only 2 special trains coming from Rajasthan and Kerala. According to a railway official, 2 special trains from Thane to Shalimar, and Bangalore to Howrah could not run due to non-acceptance from the state government.