Rlys earned ₹429.90cr from Shramik trains

nNEW DELHI: The Railways generated ~429.90 crore revenue through fares collected for Shramik Trains till July 9, according to ministry data.

The national carrier spent around ~2400 crore in operating Shramik Trains, a senior ministry official said.

The national carrier received highest revenue in fares from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with ~102 crore, ~85 crore and ~34 crore respectively, according to the data reviewed by HT. The fares were supposed to be paid by states, though there have been several reports of local administrations collecting the money from migrant workers.

The trains were run starting May 1 to ferry migrant workers stranded in cities, back home to their villages in the hinterland.

The national carrier however,spent around Rs 2400 crore in operating Shramik Trains, a senior ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the revenue generated “should be taken as receipt only in lieu of expenses incurred by the Railways in running of Shramik Trains”.

The ministry in June said the average cost of fares for migrants aboard Shramik Special trains was ~600 and added that it spent around ~3400 per person to operate the train. The official cited above said the fares were taken from the states. “It may be noted that railways incurred 85% of the cost of operating Shramik Trains. It was an important operation to rise up for the need of the nation during the lockdown,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

Railways operated 4,496 special trains between May 1 and July 9, ferrying 6.3 million people. The fare structure included regular sleeper class tickets plus superfast charges of ~30 and an additional charge of ~20.