7 states demand 63 Shramik Special trains from rlys; 32 to depart from Kerala, 23 to head to WB

The Indian Railways has said that demand for as many as 63 Shramik Special trains has been made by seven state governments. The Railway Board chairman in a letter had said that the railways will provide the desired number of Shramik Special trains within 24 hours of the request.

New Delhi: Seven state governments have listed their demand for a total of 63 Shramik Special trains from the railways, days after the Railway Board chairman wrote to the chief secretaries to give their "residual demand" for such trains to ferry migrant workers back home.

Of the total, a maximum of 32 trains will depart from Kerala while the destinations of most trains will be West Bengal (23), the railways said.

Apart from Kerala, Tamil Nadu demanded 10 Shramik Special trains, followed by Jammu and Kashmir (9), Karnataka (6), Andhra Pradesh (3), West Bengal (2) and Gujarat (1).

The Uttar Pradesh government is yet to give its requirement of trains, the railways said.

The Railway Board chairman had written letters to the states on May 29, June 3 and June 9 on the subject and emphasised that "the railways will provide the desired number of Shramik Special trains within 24 hours of the request".

PTI Report