More than 250 trains wasted, states unable to get passengers: Piyush Goyal
Indian Railways will continue to provide states as many trains as they want for transporting passengers returning home amid the COVID-19 lockdown more than 250 trains have been ‘wasted’ because states which requested for the train services, could not bring in enough passengers. Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal told The Indian Express that Maharashtra alone could not use more than 100 trains as the state did not bring enough passengers.
Indian Railways readied as many as 145 trains but Maharashtra could not use them fully Look at the wastage. Those non-utilized trains could have been used for ferrying migrants in other parts of the country, said Goyal. Most of the Shramik Special trains reached their destinations before time or on time for 19 consecutive days after starting services on May 1, before a surge in demand of trains, created congestion on the routes.
Out of 3,740 Shramik trains which operated since May 1, about 40 per cent were recorded as late. The average delay was about eight hours. Goyal explained that many migrants would come to the railway station but could not be transported because the receiving states were not allowing them to enter.
When some states did not show a keen willingness, Railway Ministry were forced to remove consent on operating trains. Goyal said that the combination of removing consent and adding more stoppages for the Shramik train operations in the month of May, added congestion in some routes. An average of 256 Shramik trains ran every day during the period, he said.
? Graded Restoration of Passenger Trains: 200 special trains to run across the country the length & breadth of the nation starting on 1st June.
? Taking precautionary measures, hygiene & social distance will be maintained for a safe passenger journey.https://t.co/01Litm7h3r
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 31, 2020
Starting from today (June 1), Indian Railways is starting the services of 200 trains across the network, in a graded manner.
Meanwhile, Indian Railways diverted only 71 trains out of 4040 trains, when congestion on some routes became too much. Railways has also served 1.19 crore meals on board the Shramik Special trains, whereas states have served 54 lakh meals, said Goyal.
The fares of operating these special trains are recovering less than 15 per cent of the cost. But, according to the minister, Indian Railways has not taken money from a single passenger.
