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The Indian Railways on Friday announced "Shramik Special" trains in order to move migrant workers and all those pilgrims, tourists, students, and people who are stranded at different places amid the coronavirus lockdown. These special trains will be run from point to point on the request of both the concerned state government as per the standard protocols for sending and receiving such stranded persons, Railways said in a communication on Friday. Six such trains were run on Friday. These included Lingampalli to Hatia, Aluva to Bhubaneswar, Nasik to Lucknow, Nasik to Bhopal, Jaipur to Patna and Kota to Hatia special trains.
The Railways and State Governments will have to appoint senior officials as Nodal Officers for coordination and smooth operation of these “Shramik Specials”. In the release, the Railways said that the passengers will be screened by the sending states and only those found asymptomatic would be allowed to travel. Officials said the sending state governments will also 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 masks. Meals and drinking water would be provided to the passengers by the sending states at the originating station, the Railways said.
The Railways will endeavor to ensure social distancing norms and hygiene with the cooperation of passengers, it said. On longer routes, the Railways will provide a meal enroute during the journey.
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.
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