The Railways has so far run 171 Shramik Special trains, transporting about 1.70 migrants stranded in different parts of the country due to the nation-wide lockdown effective March 22.
“Today [Thursday], so far we have run 22 Shramik Special trains, taking the total tally of such trains to 171 trains,” a railway spokesperson said, adding that about 26 more such trains were planned for Thursday.
Till Wednesday, the railways had run 149 Shramik Special trains. Each train, with 24 coaches, can carry 1,000-1,200 passengers.
Separately, the Railways in a statement said that it has converted 5,231 coaches into COVID Care Centers. These can be used for very mild cases in areas where the State has exhausted the facilities and needs to augment capacities for isolation of both suspect and confirmed COVID-19 cases.
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The government has earmarked 215 railway stations for the deployment of these ‘COVID Care Centres’. Of these, Railways will provide healthcare facilities at 85 stations, while at the remaining 130 stations, requesting States will need to provide staff and essential medicines.
Besides, Railways will deploy more than 2,500 doctors and 35,000 paramedic staff to deal with the pandemic, the statement said, adding that they are being recruited on a temporary basis by various zones.
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“As per the guidelines of MoHFW, State Governments would send the requisition to Railways. Railways will make allocation of these coaches to the State/UTs. After allocation by Railways, the train shall be placed, at required station with necessary infrastructure, and handed over to District Collector/Magistrate or one of their authorised persons. Wherever the train is placed, watering, electricity, repairs required, catering arrangements, security shall be taken care by Railways,” it added.
