60% Covid rail coaches to be reconverted for passenger service

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: With virtually no takers for its Covid coaches, the Railway Board has decided to reconvert nearly 3,100 of these remodelled coaches which can be deployed for running Shramik Special trains. The railways had converted around 5,321 sleeper coaches and general coaches as isolation coaches for Covid patients.
The Railway Board has issued a communication to all zones saying, “permitted the 'utilisation of 60? isolation coaches meant for intervention of Covid-19 cases, as Shramik Special”.
Sources said the railways had spent around Rs 2 lakh per coach to covert them. “We just need to add the middle berth which was taken out in the case of sleeper coaches and there is no need to carry out any modification in general coaches which were made into Covid coaches,” said an official.
The demand for non-AC coaches is increasing as railways has restarted normal passenger service in a calibrated manner and has also said it would ramp up the number of Shramik Special trains being run daily.
So far Shramik Special trains have carried more than 30.5 lakh passengers till Thursday.
Sources said there were estimates that at least one crore migrants need to be transported back to their home state with Bihar topping the list (30 lakh) followed by Uttar Pradesh (18 lakh).
"This was the number largely discussed during meetings of railway officials. Although it is difficult to say how many still need trains," said a senior official in Lucknow.