Shramik Specials not regular trains, can be extended, diverted to benefit migrant workers: Railways

The Railways defended itself on Friday in the face of severe criticism over delays by Shramik Specials in reaching their destinations, saying they were not regular trains and can be extended or short-terminated, and their stoppages and routes can be changed for the benefit of migrant workers. Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav clarified that no train can ever be "lost" and of the 3,840 trains operated since May 1, only four have taken over 72 hours to reach their destinations.

New Delhi: After getting reports on trains getting "lost" during their journeys, Railway Board Chairman, Vinod Kumar Yadav clarified, on Friday, that only 4 out of 3,840 Shramik Special trains operated since May 1, have taken more than 72 hours to reach their destinations, and 1.85% of the total trains got diverted between the period of May 20-24, due to high congestion on their routes.

"During May 20-24, there was a high demand for trains to UP and Bihar. 90% of these trains were going to UP-Bihar from all across the country. Due to network congestion on these routes, 71 trains were diverted," said VK Yadav, during the press conference.

He further explained, out of these 71 trains which got diverted, 51 trains were for Bihar, 16 for UP, 2 for Jharkhand, and 1 for both Assam and Manipur.

The clarification came in the wake of media reports over the delays in migrant trains suggesting that the trains got "lost" before reaching their destinations. Calling many of them as "fake news", Yadav informed that 90% of these migrant trains have run at more than the average speed of the regular mail/express train.

In the official data, it has been shown that 36.5% of all Shramik Special trains were being sent to Bihar and 42.2% have ended up in UP, leading to an unequal pressure on these routes.

Yadav said that the congestion was also due to the eagerness to meet all demand for the trains made by various states.

He also mentioned that aiming to follow all the health protocols, the originating states ended up getting affected a 24 hours steady flow of trains.

He said, "Train origination took place after all local protocols followed by States, mostly in post noon from 2 p.m. till 12:00 a.m. shift. This has left 1/3rd of the per day route capacity of Railways."

Chairman Railway Board said that till May 28, a total number of 3,840 Shramik Special Trains have been operated, which have ferried around 52 lakh passengers. 1,524 trains have been operated in last one week, ferrying over 20 lakh passengers.

"The requests for Shramik Special trains have decreased now. We have got a demand of around 449 trains. These trains will continue to run till the time all migrant labourers don't reach their homes. We'll schedule a train on the same day as we get a demand by the state government and will run the train on the very next day," he said.