More than 900 passengers, a majority of them students from Jammu and Kashmir, left Bengaluru to their homes early on Sunday. A special train pulled out of Chikkabanavara railway station to Udhampur at 12.30 p.m. with 985 passengers.
The students were studying in various colleges in Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka. This is the first train being operated by the Railways from Bengaluru, apart from the Shramik trains to ferry migrant workers to their home towns.
The students had registered on the ‘Seva Sindhu’ portal and reported for mandatory health screening at Byappanahalli police station. Later, they were transported in 50 BMTC buses to the railway station.
Zahid, a student, said, “Many students from Jammu and Kashmir were stranded during the lockdown. It was very difficult for us as we were not with our families. We were also scared because of the pandemic.”
South Western Railway posted tweets of a student thanking the Indian government and authorities for arranging the train service.
A BMTC official said no money was collected for the bus or railway tickets. “We were told by the authorities that the Jammu and Kashmir government was bearing their travel cost.”
