Special train with 1,200 migrant workers departs to Bihar from Telangana

A special train carrying about 1,200 migrant workers left for Khagaria in Bihar from Ghatkesar on Tuesday.

"The Shramik Special Train left for Khagaria in Bihar this morning. All the passengers were screened before they were allowed to board," a senior south central railway official said.

This is the second train arranged for the workers in Telangana. Similarly, another train from Rayannapadu near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh left for Chandrapur in Maharashtra, the SCR official added. The Rachakonda Police in a statement said the train left for Khagaria at 3.05 AM from Ghatkesar station.

Rachakonda Police Commissoner Mahesh Bhagwat, Medchal collector Venkateshwarlu and other senior officials including from SCR supervised the departure. As many as 40 trains would be operated per day for one week beginning Tuesday to ferry stranded migrant labourers to their destinations from Telangana, an official release said on Monday night.

The trains would start from various stations in the city, Warangal, Khammam and Ramagundam among other places. They are destined to various places in Odisha, Bihar Jharkhand and West Bengal. On May 1, the first train carrying 1,225 migrant workers was run from the Lingampalli railway station here to Hatia in Jharkhand, after the Railway Ministry acceded to the request of the state government for facilitating their return. It was the first special train to be run by the railways to ferry the stranded migrants since its services were suspended due to the coronavirus lockdown.