To ferry more migrants to their home states, the Railways has said it will now carry around 1,700 passengers on board the Shramik Special trains instead of the current 1,200.
New Delhi, May 11:
The Shramik Special trains for migrant workers will now run with full capacity of 1,700 passengers instead of the current 1,200, the Railways said on Monday.
As per the latest Railways order on special trains for migrants, the railway zones have also been asked to provide three stoppages in the destination state other than the final stop.
“The Railways has a capacity to run 300 trains per day and we want to maximise it. We want to carry as many migrants home as possible over the next few days and have appealed to states to send approvals,” said a senior Railways was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The Railways said the train capacity should be equal to the number of sleeper berths on the train.
The Shramik Special trains have 24 coaches with a capacity to carry 72 passengers in each coach. Currently, these trains are running with 54 passengers in each coach due to social distancing and other lockdown norms.
So far, the Indian Railways has ferried over 5 lakh passengers since May 1.
