Indian Railways to operate more 'Shramik Special' trains for migrants
Indian Railways is planning to operate more Shramik special trains for evacuating stranded migrant workers, labourers, pilgrims, and students from various parts of the country. The decision comes after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued guidelines for the movement of these groups of people on May 1, 2020.
Indian Railways has cleared 11 more trains to be operated in the coming days. It has been estimated that around 500 such Shramik special trains will eventually run in the next 15 days to evacuate stranded workers, students, and pilgrims, said the Indian Express (IE). While IE said that the railways has cleared 11 more trains, officials The Federal spoke to could not quote an exact number. They, however, confirmed that the department will be sending more trains in the next few days.
The first Shramik special train was flagged off from Lingampalli in Hyderabad to travel to Hatia in Jharkhand, on May 1. The train ferried more than 1,200 migrants home.
First Shramik special train, carrying 1225 workers from Lingampalli in Telangana reached Hatia in Jharkhand last night at 23.15 hrs#IndiaFightsCorona@PMOIndia @PiyushGoyal @SureshAngadi_ pic.twitter.com/6Pp8U7tAjW
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 2, 2020
Recently, the Indian Railways issued a set of guideline to all zones for the operations of Shramik special trains. According to the railway ministry’s standard operating procedure, the train should have at least 90 per cent occupancy in order for it to operate. The guidelines stated that the local state government authority will hand over the tickets of such trains to passengers cleared by them.
Each Shramik special train will be a non-stop train which will be bound for a single destination. Usually, the Shramik special will operate for distances more than 500 km, and will not stop at any station in between the originating and destination station. For the longer journeys, Indian Railways will also provide a meal en route, to the passengers.
Over 1200 students from Bihar, who were stuck in Kota due to the COVID-19 lockdown, were ferried home by another special train on May 3. The train left from Begusarai in Kota at 12 noon. However, another 10,000 students are still stuck in Kota due to the lockdown restrictions.
Special trains will run for migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places only on the request of state governments. Anyone who wants to travel should contact state governments only: Indian Railways pic.twitter.com/uf5vaClw78
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2020
Railway Ministry sources told The Federal that the South Western Railway (SWR) zone operated two Shramik special trains today (May 3). One train started from Chikbanawar, in Bengaluru and is destined to Bhubaneswar, having 1,190 passengers. The second Shramik special train started from Malur, in Bengaluru and is destined to Danapur, having 1200 passengers.
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Social distancing norms were followed during the boarding of trains before departing from Chikbanawar and Malur railway stations. The passengers were medically examined by the state government officials and were issued a medical certificate. Thermal screening was done by the railway medical teams.
