Hyderabad (Telangana): In a first since the lockdown began, the Railways on Friday ran a special non-stop train to ferry 1,200 stranded migrants from Hyderabad's Lingampally to Hatia in Jharkhand.
"The train has 24 coaches and it is ferrying more than 1200 migrants. The train departed from Lingampally in Telangana for Hatia in Jharakhand, at 04:50 am today," RPF DG Arun Kumar said, adding that it is the only train to be deployed so far.
A spokesperson for the South Central Railway which is running the train service said that all passengers were thermal screened at the station, masks were mandatory and food has been provided on board as the train will have no halts.
For social distancing measures, it has allowed only 54 passengers per coach which has a capacity of 72. In coupes, six passengers have been allowed instead of eight, the spokesperson said.
The train will reach Hatia at 11 pm tonight and the migrants on board are expected to be taken to quarantine facilities.
In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said that the train was run on request of the Telangana state government, and as per the directions of the Ministry.
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All necessary precautions such as prior screening of passengers, maintaining social distancing at station and in the train were followed, it added.
However, the Ministry stressed upon the fact that this was only a 'one-off special train' and any further trains would be planned only as per the directions of Ministry of Railways and on request from both the originating and destination state governments.
According to officials in Jharkhand, the state government has made adequate arrangements for the testing and quarantine of the migrants returning to the state from the special non-stop train.
Incidentally today also happens to be the international Labour Day.
The railways have suspended the passenger, mail and express train services in a bid to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Earlier on April 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a fresh set of guidelines to let migrant workers, students, tourists and pilgrims stranded in different parts of the country to get back home.
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The inter-state movement of these stranded people will be facilitated by the state/UT governments by road only, the order stated. Anyone willing to be transported back home will have to be medically screened at the source as well as destination and will be kept in a home or institutional quarantine on arrival, the home ministry guidelines said.
Following the MHA guidelines, a number of states, including Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Kerala, Telangana, and Bihar put pressure on the Centre to deploy special trains for ferrying migrant workers and students. Even the Delhi government has sought details from the states about the number of migrant workers stranded in the national capital to make arrangements for their screening before they leave for their respective states.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
