'200 new non-AC trains to run daily from June 1; online booking soon': Piyush Goyal

In a massive development on Tuesday, May 19, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal announced that 200 non-AC trains shall start running daily from June 1 onwards. The booking for these trains will be online only and shall commence very soon. The Union Minister added that the Railways shall augment the number of Shramik Special trains from the current capacity of 200 per day. He called upon the state governments to help the migrant workers by registering them at the nearest mainline station and providing the list to the Railways.

This will help facilitate Shramik Special trains. At the same time, Goyal appealed to the migrant workers to stay put wherever they are and assured them that the Railways would ensure their return to hometowns. Till May 19, more than 1,600 Shramik Special trains have been operated transporting over 21.5 lakh migrant workers to their home state. 

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Shramik Special train guidelines

The Ministry of Railways decided to run Shramik Special trains to transport migrants across the country after the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed the inter-state movement of stranded persons. On May 2, it issued detailed guidelines in this regard. Each Shramik Special train runs non-stop and halts at a single destination more than 500 km away from the originating station. Moreover, the occupancy of the trains is not less than 90%. All the travellers are screened at the originating station and only, asymptomatic patients are allowed to board the train.

The states falling on the transit route were directed to ensure the safe passage of these trains. Foods and water packets are distributed at the originating points. The guidelines stipulated that the Railways will directly hand over the tickets to the state government which in turn shall pass them on to the approved passengers after collecting the designated fare from them. But, Railway Ministry sources confirmed that the Centre and state governments were paying 85% and 15% of the migrant workers' fare respectively. 

Read: MHA Issues Revised SOP On Stranded Migrants' Movement By Shramik Trains; Seeks Cooperation

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