Railways tries to give smooth passage to Shramik Specials

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of Shramik Special trains getting stalled on certain routes and diversion of some of these trains, the railway ministry on Sunday said route rationalisation order has been issued to avoid congestion on routes with heavy traffic.
In an official statement, it said few trains were diverted via Mathura in Uttar Pradessh and Jharsuguda in Odisha to ease the congestion. It said till Sunday 10 am more than 2,813 Shramik Special trains, carrying over 37 lakh passengers, were operated. "Nearly 60% of these trains originated from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab and 80% of total Shramik Special trains are destined for various destinations in UP and Bihar. Most of the destinations in UP are around Lucknow-Gorakhpur sector and in Bihar around Patna. Of 565 trains on run since yesterday (Saturday), 266 were going to Bihar and 172 to UP," the statement said.

A maximum of 802 Shramik Specials have left from Gujarat followed by Maharashtra (513) and Punjab (308).
The ministry said convergence of trains to destinations in UP and Bihar caused congestion in the network and increased time taken in de-boarding of passengers due to the health and social distancing protocols at the stations. This further affects network congestion, it said.