602 Shramik Special trains run so far, over 7 lakh migrants ferried;100 such trains daily

railways has operated 602 "Shramik Special" trains since May 1 and ferried home seven lakh migrants stranded in various parts of country amid coronavirus-induced lockdown, officials said on Tuesday.

On Monday, a statement issued by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said railways will w run 100 "Shramik Special" trains on a daily basis to facilitate faster movement of workers.

Of 575 trains run till 4 pm Tuesday, 463 have reached ir destinations and 112 are in transit. 463 trains were terminated in various states, including Uttar Pradesh (221), Bihar (117), Madhya Pradesh (38), Odisha (29), Jharkhand (27), Rajasthan (four), Maharashtra (three), Telangana and West Bengal (two each), and Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu (one each).

trains have ferried migrants to cities such as Tiruchirappalli, Titlagarh, Barauni, Khandwa, Jagannathpur, Khurda Road, Allahabad, Chhapra, Balia, Gaya, Purnia, Varanasi, Darbhanga, Gorakhpur, Luckw, Jaunpur, Hatia, Basti, Katihar, Danapur, Muzzaffarpur and Saharsa.

Proper screening of passengers is carried out before y board trains. During journey, passengers are given free meals and water.

From Monday, se "Shramik Special" trains started carrying around 1,700 passengers each, instead of earlier 1,200, to ferry as many workers home as possible. While initially, se trains had stopps, railways anunced on Monday that up to three stopps in destination states will be allowed. decision was taken after several state governments made a request in this regard, officials said.

While railways is yet to anunce cost incurred on se special services, officials indicated that national transporter is spending around Rs 80 lakh per service. Centre had earlier stated that cost of services was shared on an 85:15 ratio with states.

Since "Shramik Special" train service started, Gujarat has remained top originating state, followed by Kerala. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh top list of receiving states. Earlier, railways drew flak from opposition parties for charging for se services. In its guidelines, national transporter has said trains will ply only if y have a 90-per cent occupancy and "states should collect ticket fare".