Migrant trains to take more passengers, allowed three stops

NEW DELHI: Indian Railways approved on Monday an increase in the number of passengers allowed on board Shramik Special trains it is running for migrant workers returning home after being stranded by the Covid-19 lockdown, and allowed the trains to make three stops en route to their destinations.

Shramik Specials, which have so far been running without any stops on the way, are now allowed to carry up to 1,700 people. The special trains have 24 coaches, each with 72 seats. Until now, only 54 people have been allowed in each coach, with the middle berth left empty to maintain social distancing, meaning each train carried about 1,200 passengers. According to the new guidelines issued by Indian Railways, a copy of which was reviewed by HT, a train’s capacity should now be equal to the number of sleeper berths it has.

The Union home ministry, meanwhile, asked all states and Union territories to cooperate with the railways in running more Shramik Special trains, which started on May 1 after state governments requested the Centre to facilitate the return of migrant workers stranded in various parts of the country because of the lockdown imposed on March 25 for the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I urge upon you all to allow receiving of all Shramik Special trains without any hindrance and facilitate faster movement of stranded migrant workers to their native places,” a letter written by home secretary Ajay Bhalla to state and Union Territory (UT) administrations said.

He also asked states and UTs to ensure that migrant workers do not resort to walking on the roads and rail tracks and use the special trains for travel home.

The developments came a day after railway minister Piyush Goyal said Indian Railways had geared up to run 300 trains a day to ferry migrant labourers to their hometowns.