To date, 4,596 special Shramik trains have been operated by the Railways since May 1. (File)
New Delhi:
There is no demand for Shramik Special trains from any state now, the railways said today, but have offered to run more if states request it.
At a press conference, railway spokesmen said that no special Shramik had taken place on Sunday and that none were scheduled for Tuesday either.
“There was a demand for only one train from Karnataka and this train runs today (Monday) from Bengaluru to Muzaffarpur. There is also no demand for such trains tomorrow. We will run them if the request comes from the states, “said a spokesperson.
He also said that so far, 4,596 Shramik trains have been in service since May 1.
Giving details, he said demand for Shramik special trains had dropped significantly from June. On May 31, the Railways operated only 69 Shramik trains, while the following day they operated just over 100.
Shramik Special trains are operated primarily at the request of states wishing to send migrant workers stranded due to coronavirus lockdown in their country of origin.
The spokesmen also declared that the revenues of the Railways of the 200 special courier / express trains, which started their operations from June 1, were Rs 20-22 crore per day.
They also said that the occupancy rate of the 15 pairs of air-conditioned trains running on Rajdhani roads as of May 12 was 80%.
They also said that while the demand for promotions for migrants was decreasing, the occupation of trains to major cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru from states such as Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal was almost 100%, indicating the start of an economic recovery.
Together, these three states accounted for 81 percent of the 4,596 Sharmik Special trains that have been operated to date.
The railways use 100 pairs of postal / express trains from June 1 and 15 pairs of air-conditioned trains on the roads of Rajdhani.
Giving an update on COVID railroad coach buses parked at stations in five states, they said of the 59 patients admitted since June 20 into the Mau from Uttar Pradesh, 56 were released, while that nine of the 32 admitted to Shakurbasti station in Delhi have been unloaded so far.
They also said that the railways have decided to reimburse the full fare to passengers who have booked tickets on canceled trains now.
The railways recently canceled all of their scheduled trains until August 12, but special trains will continue to operate.
