Three trains carrying totally 3,420 migrant workers left Coimbatore on Saturday to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
The Salem Division of Southern Railway operated the three ‘Shramik’ special trains to transport the migrant workers in Coimbatore district to their respective home States. One train had left for Bihar on Friday evening.
Railway officials said the first train on Saturday that left Coimbatore Junction at around 8 a.m. was bound for Danapur Junction in Bihar. The second train’s destination was Akbarpur Junction in Uttar Pradesh which left at around 4 p.m., and the third train was bound for Jaunpur Junction in Uttar Pradesh that left the Coimbatore junction at around 8 p.m.
All the trains had 24 coaches and each was allowed only 1,140 passengers. Personal distancing was ensured inside the trains and all the coaches were disinfected prior to the operation.
Coimbatore Junction was initially allotted five rakes for operation of special trains. With four used as of Saturday, more rakes will be prepared as per requirements, according to the railway officials.
According to officials in the district administration, the plan is to help nearly 20,000 guest workers in the district reach their respective States. There are no immediate plans to operate train services on Sunday and even if it gets finalised, the train will leave on Sunday evening. Since only those who have registered online are given priority now, there is every possibility that many workers who want to board the train, but have not registered, will come to the railway junction and are sent back to their accommodations here.
Next to Chennai, Coimbatore has the largest number of migrant workers and many of them will leave the district to return home, at least for a few days, when regular train services restart, the officials said.
