South Central Railway (SCR) has carried little more than 50,000 migrant labour towards up north — 50,822, to be more precise — in the last 11 days since the first ‘Shramik Special’ began its journey from Lingampalli towards Hatia in Bihar on the May Day. Altogether, it has run 45 such special sleeper class trains, including 27 from various suburban stations in Telangana, carrying 30,976 passengers and 14 trains from Andhra Pradesh carrying 15,372 passengers, in all, earning about ₹3.4 crore.
Besides, another 4,474 passengers were carried from Maharastra in four trains from different stations with respective State governments paying the fares. In Telangana, eight trains were started from Lingampally, seven from Ghatkesar, five from Bibinagar, two each from Bollarum, Cherlapally and Nagulapalli and one from Medchal stations — from outskirts of the twin cities.
From AP, the trains began their journey beginning from five starting in Rayanapadu, three from Kurnool, two each from Kovvur and Nellore and one each from Chittoor and Nidadavolu. Four trains were also run from Maharashtra, including three from Aurangabad and one from Jalna.
“We are changing stations frequently and starting special trains in the suburbs to prevent overcrowding. State governments have been registering workers and bringing them to the stations in buses after health checks. Mandatory quarantine of 14 days depends on the protocol in the receiving States,” informed senior railway officials, on condition of anonymity.
Most trains had 24 coaches had transported the labour running non-stop save for crew changeovers towards Bihar – 19 trains and 11 stations, Uttar Pradesh – eight trains and seven stations, Madhya Pradesh – eight trains and seven stations, Jharkhand – five trains and five stations, Odisha – one train and one station, Rajasthan – one train and one station.
Incidentally, only two trains, returning to the Telugu States carried migrant labour, like the one which went to Khazaria brought 220 passengers back to work to Lingampalli in TS after which they were moved to different parts of Telangana. Similarly, another special train brought labour passengers from Kalyan in Maharastra to Anantapur in AP. Return direction fares too were paid by the respective State governments, senior railway officials added.
