Nearly a week after unrest in various parts of Tiruppur district, the first batch of 1,140 workers and students were sent to their home towns by Shramik special train from Tiruppur on Sunday.
The train was bound for Muzaffarpur Junction in Bihar and left the Tiruppur Railway Station at around 4.30 p.m., according to officials from Salem Division of Southern Railway. The train had 24 coaches comprising 18 sleeper coaches, four unreserved coaches and two seating-cum-luggage Rake (SLR) coaches. All coaches were disinfected and only six passengers will be allowed per bay in the sleeper coaches (instead of eight as the middle berths are not allowed) to ensure personal distancing for prevention of COVID-19. More special trains will be operated from Tiruppur after receiving the approval from other State governments, railway officials said.
Heath Department personnel checked the body temperature of the workers using thermal scanners, following which they were provided with food packets and water bottles, district administration officials said. Among the 1,140 passengers were 75 students from Sainik School, Amaravathinagar.
Apart from the train service, nearly 700 migrant workers also left Tiruppur through private buses by Sunday. Officials said that they directly applied for an e-pass with the State government to arrange for the buses and paid the travel expense themselves.
About 1,140 workers from Bihar left Coimbatore by Shramik special train on Sunday. The workers had registered online their willingness to return to their home State. This is the fifth special train operated from Coimbatore to other states for migrant workers. So far, three trains were operated to Bihar and two to Uttar Pradesh.