Indian Railways transports 2.1 million migrants through special trains

After witnessing an unprecedented movement of migrant workers across the country during the lockdown, Indian Railways operated 1,595 special trains with free meals and water to ferry them to their home states.

Besides the migrants, others who used the Shramik Special trains included stranded people like pilgrims, tourists and students.

These 1,595 trains transported people from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry UT, Punjab, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.

The Railways screened passengers before boarding and ensured that proper physical distance was maintained in the trains.

The movement of passenger trains was stopped in March after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure to control the spread of coronavirus. Only goods trains and essential maintenance work was carried out by the Railways..