800 'Shramik Special' trains run so far, 10 lakh migrants ferried home: Railways

Railways has operated 800 Shramik Special trains since May 1, ferrying home 10 lakh migrant workers who were stranded in various parts of country due to coronavirus-triggered lockdown, officials said on Thursday.

Of se, Uttar Pradesh received maximum number of trains followed by Bihar y said.

"As on May 14, 2020, a total of 800 'Shramik Special' trains have been operationalised from various states across country. More than 10 lakh passengers have reached ir home state. Trains are being run by Railways only after concurrence is given both by state which is sending passengers and state which is receiving m," railways said.

se 800 trains were terminated in various states like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Proper screening of passengers is being carried out before y board trains, Railways said, adding that during journey, passengers are given free meals and water.

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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 a 85:15 ratio between Centre and states.

Since Shramik Special train service started, Gujarat has remained top originating state, followed by Kerala.

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.

On Monday, a statement issued by Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said Railways will w run 100 Shramik Specials every day to facilitate faster movement of stranded workers.

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