Peak demand for Shramik Specials has ended: railways

The trains to be run till there is demand from States

Migrant workers look for distribution of food from Shramik train in Vijayawada. File

The peak demand period for Shramik Special trains has ended and the railways presently have demand for only 15 such trains from various States, Railway Board Member (Traffic) P.S. Mishra said on Monday.

The railways was also in the process of sending letters to Chief Secretaries of all States to assess the demand for such trains and these trains would be run till there was demand from the States, he said.

“We have got demand for 15 more trains for today...When Shramik Special was started, we even ran 269 trains a day. That peak period has ended. We ran three trains on Sunday. Today, we might run six-seven such trains,” he observed in a media interaction.

The railways have till now run 4,436 Shramik trains, ferrying over 62 lakh passengers . Last week, they ran about 100 such trains, with just three trains being operated on Sunday.

Coronavirus lockdown | State nod not necessary for Shramik trains

There were no pending dues for the Shramik Specials and payments had been made by all the States. “....all the States have paid; in some cases, the receiving States paid and in some sending States. There is no pendency of payment,” he said in reply to a query.

Asked about running more special passenger trains, he said a decision would be taken in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). “The trains we have started till now have been done in consultation with the MHA. Going forwards also, we will consult them before more trains are added. The assessment and dialogue happens almost on a weekly basis.”

The railways are currently running 230 special passenger trains with a cumulative occupancy of 73%.

COVID coaches

In a statement, the railways said 59 patients were admitted in COVID care coaches in Uttar Pradesh. “On June 20, 2020, 42 suspected patients were admitted in COVID coaches deployed at Mau Junction in Varanasi division and 17 patients were admitted on 21st June, 2020. Eight patients have already been discharged,” it stated.

The railways have readied 5231 COVID care coaches, which can be used for very mild/mild cases, of which nearly 1,000 have been deployed in five States, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.