GUWAHATI, May 19 - A total of 13 Shramik Special trains have arrived in the NE region so far bringing over 17,000 stranded persons from other parts of the country.
�As of today, 110 Shramik Special trains have reached the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) zone areas with about 1,10,000 stranded people. Out of the total 110 trains, 13 have arrived in various north-eastern states like Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Assam till Monday with about 17,000 stranded people. Another six or seven trains, bringing stranded people, will be arriving in the NE states within the next two-three days,� said Subhanan Chanda, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of NFR.
He added, �While 93 trains have arrived at various places of Bihar falling under the NFR, one train has arrived at New Jalpaiguri and three at New Cooch Behar stations in West Bengal till date. In NFR areas under Katihar Division of Bihar, trains have arrived at the Katihar, Purnea, Araria and Kishanganj stations. Another 11 trains will be arriving in these areas of Bihar and one at New Jalpaiguri within the next two days carrying stranded people.�
NFR has jurisdiction over the entire NE region, including Sikkim, besides parts of West Bengal and Bihar.
�The passengers of Shramik Special trains are mainly students, patients, and migrant labourers with their families. Passengers are been given free meals, water and necessary medical help by Railways as and when required during journey. All the passengers arriving by the Shramik Special trains are being received by the civil administration of the respective states at the railway stations following all necessary COVID-19 protocol. All passengers are guided by Railway Police Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personal in queues after de-boarding from the trains for proper screening by State government officials while maintaining social distancing. The stations are being properly barricaded through deployment of adequate numbers of RPF, GRP and local police personnel to prevent entry of unauthorised persons,� Chanda added.
Meanwhile, NFR is also planning to operate a few Shramik Special trains in the coming days for transportation of stranded persons from the North East to states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka as per demand of the respective state governments.
Only persons enlisted by the State governments and brought to the station can travel on these Shramik Special trains. No individual, including stranded people and migrant labourers, can board these trains by coming to any railway station on their own.
Indian Railways has already operated more than 1,565 Shramik Special trains and transported more than 20 lakh passengers across the country till today.
