Most Shramik trains from Gujarat, Punjab and Telangana

NEW DELHI: Over eight lakh stranded migrant workers, students and tourists had taken Shramik Special trains till Wednesday evening with 642 trains with 7.8 lakh passenegers of the total 690 trains run so far reaching their destinations, rialway ministry officials said. Uttar Pradesh was the destination for 301 trains, followed by Bihar (169) and Madhya Pradesh (53). Maximum number of these special trains originated from Gujarat, Punjab and Telangana.
Official data show while only four such trains started their journey on May 1 carrying 3,645 passengers, the number touched 101 by Tuesday with 1.43 lakh passengers, the highest number of travellers in the past thirteen days since the operation started. On Sunday, another 101 Shramik Specials had carried 1.22 lakh passengers.
Officials said while some states like Maharashtra have high concentration of migrants in different pockets, the number of trains originating from the state has been less as compared to others.
“There are several issues including more containment zones in the state. There have also been issues with the West Bengal government not taking interest to send or receive such trains,” said a source.
Till Wednesday morning, three trains had terminated in Maharashtra and seven in West Bengal. The railways run these trains only after receiving concurrence from both the originating and destination states.