Published 04:49 IST, May 27th 2020
Piyush Goyal dismisses reports of massive train delay as 'baseless and false'
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal dismissed reports that claimed Shramik Special trains were taking 7 to 9 days to reach their destinations as "baseless and false"
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Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday dismissed reports that claimed Shramik Special trains were taking 7 to 9 days to reach their destinations as "baseless, false and completely motivated". He further said that such reports "damage the huge efforts" of railway employees to facilitate the movement of migrant workers.
Goyal claims no delay in trains, reports suggest otherwise
Speaking to ANI, Goyal said, "Reports that trains are taking 7 days to 9 days are baseless, false and are completely motivated to damage the huge effort that my railway employees working day and night without sleep. Employees are making efforts to facilitate the movement of the migrants."
"A total of 3,265 trains have been sent until yesterday. Almost all trains up to May 23 have reached their destination. One or two trains going far away into the northeast are still on the run. Of May 24, where we sent 238 trains, most will reach (their destinations) today evening. Now that long journey time is over," he added.
Contrary to Goyal's claims, on Saturday, a Shramik Special train from Mumbai which was scheduled to reach Gorakhpur, on Friday evening after a 24-hour journey, was rerouted via Odisha, adding two days and five states to the original journey. Officials said that the routes were so congested that it was difficult to operate trains on them and routes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, like the Goraphpur-Gonda-Lucknow line, were completely saturated.
Adding to the misery of the migrants, trains delay affected the meal distribution schedule on board, leading to thousands of passengers going without provisions. There were reports from many railway stations about protests by passengers over meals.
On Sunday, a Shramik Special train from Karmali in Goa arrived here on Sunday after a delay of over 26 hours, said officials. Some passengers of the train said the trains reached its destination taking several detours, leaving them hungry, thirsty and tired.
"The train started from Goa on Thursday at its scheduled time. At the time of departure, we got food and water. Instead of going to Itarsi from Bhusawal, the train went towards Nagpur. The train moved in Maharashtra on different routes. Later, the train reached Itrasi," Mau district residents Sanjay Chauhan and Awadh Kumar told reporters.
Admitting that there were some incidents of train delay, Goyal said that it was not caused by Railways.
"There were some incidents of train delay and I am sorry for that. The matter was not in our hands and states like Maharashtra delayed the trains from the source. Hence, we have to do the diversions and trains get delayed to reach their destinations on time," he said.
Regarding the supply of essentials, Goyal said, "We are ensuring continuous transport of foodgrains, coal and other essential materials. Some times because of this and delay of the train from the source station, we have to divert some trains due to congestion. I appeal to all the states to cooperate with us. We will provide all the facilities."
04:49 IST, May 27th 2020