The Indian Railways will run the “Shramik Special” trains from Friday to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown, said Ministry Of Railways Executive Director (IP) Rajesh Dutt Bajpai.
The decision was taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to operate the trains under the Ministry of Railways and nodal officer(s) will be designated for coordinating with states and Union Territories (UTs) for their movement.
As per the plan a total of six trains have been allocated to ferry passengers. However, the actual running time may vary as per the planning of the state governments.
The first train will run from Serilingampally town in Ranga Reddy district of Telangana to Hatia town in Ranchi district of Jharkhand; the second train will ply between from Aluva near Kochi in Kerala to Bhubaneswar in Odisha; the third train will travel from Nashik in Maharashtra to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, and the fourth will start from Nashik in Maharashtra to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.
The two other trains will ply between Jaipur in Rajasthan to Patna in Bihar; and Kota town in Rajasthan to Hatia town in Ranchi district of Jharkhand.
Another special train will depart from Jaipur in Rajasthan on at 10 pm on May 1 and reach Danapur in Bihar at 12.45 pm on May 2. The train has 24 coaches comprising sleeper class (18 coaches); second class (4 coaches) and Guard Van (SLR) with two coaches.
These special trains will be run from point to point on the request of both the concerned state governments as per the standard protocols for sending and receiving such stranded persons. The Railways and state governments shall appoint senior officials as Nodal Officers for coordination and smooth operation of these “Shramik Specials”, said Bajpai.
The passengers have to be screened by the sending states and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. Sending state governments will have to bring these persons in batches that can be accommodated in the train to the designated Railway Station in sanitized buses following social distancing norms and other precautions. It will be mandatory for every passenger to wear face cover. Meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the sending states at the originating station.
The Railways will endeavour to ensure social distancing norms and hygiene with the cooperation of passengers. On longer routes, the Railways will provide a meal en route during the journey, added Bajpai.
On arrival at the destination, passengers will be received by the state government, who would make all arrangements for their screening, quarantine if necessary and further travel from the Railway Station, further added Bajpai.
Indian Railways on Friday ran a special train to ferry stranded migrants from Telangana to Jharkhand amid the lockdown. According to a statement issued by the Indian Railways, this special train will ferry nearly 1,200 stranded migrants from Lingampally in Telangana to Hatia in Jharkhand. This would be the first train to run since the lockdown began.
