2,600 trains to ferry guest workers in next 10 days

NEW DELHI: In a major decision to ramp up ferrying of migrant labourers, the Railways have decided to run 2,600 more ‘Shramik Special’ trains in the next ten days across the country for the movement of about 36 lakh stranded workers even as the transport behemoth plans to gradually attain normalcy in operations soon.

Some of these proposed trains are also earmarked from and to Tamil Nadu. Addressing a press conference, Railway

Board Chairman Vijay Kumar Yadav said the railways would run more trains if necessary till the state governments want to clear the entire backlog of migrant labourers in different parts of the country.

He said they had already run 2,600 Shramik Special Trains in the last 23 days transporting around 35 lakh stranded migrants till now to their home States. Apart from that about 10 lakh migrant workers have been ferried within some states.

Yadav said 80 per cent of the Shramik Special trains have run to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar creating congestion in the lines to those states necessitating diversion of some trains by other routes to reach the two states.

He said about four lakh passengers have booked tickets on the 200 trains whose services will be resumed from June 1. Orders issued have been issued for opening about 1,000 booking counters even as bookings have been in post offices, railway correspondents and common service centres. Stalls have also been ordered to be opened in railway stations for the benefit of passenges, he said. Apart from Shramik Special Trains, Railways have started 15 pairs of Special Trains May 12 and announced 200 train services to be started from June 1. Yadav said with the running of these trains, the railways hope that normalcy may gradually be restored over the system. He said uninterrupted freight movement operations have ensured delivery of 9.7 million tonnes of foodgrain between April 1 and May 22.