Starting with the first Shramik Special Train which chugged out from the SWR on 4th May 2020, South Western Railway has run 256 trains transporting 3.76 Lakh migrant workers to their native places/destinations up to 27th June 2020.
While SWR carried the first one Lakh passengers in 13 days, the 2 Lakh passengers were moved in just 6 days. 2.5 Lakh passengers were carried in just 7 days, 3.0 Lakh passengers in another 7 days and 3.5 Lakh passengers in 16 days.
248 trains carrying 3.63 Lakh passengers left from Karnataka and 8 trains carrying 12,718 passengers left from Hosur in Tamilnadu, to the different parts of the country.
As and when the State Govt. advised, SWR has arranged for Shramik Special trains to all parts of the country for the migrant workers to reach their hometowns. The route and stoppages also were advised by the State Govt.
SWR has run Shramik Specials from KSR Bengaluru, Bengaluru Cant., Chikkabanavara, Malur, Ashokapuram, Kabakaputtur, Hassan, Hubballi, Hosapete, Ballari, Koppal and Hosur in Tamil Nadu state wise from 03.05.2020 to 27.06.2020 is as below;
Sl. No. State No. of Trains No. of Passengers
1 Bihar 79 1,16,313
2 Uttar Pradesh 56 81,067
3 West Bengal 27 40,395
4 Assam 23 36,788
5 Jharkhand 21 30,962
6 Odisha 17 26,020
7 Rajasthan 9 12,190
8 Madhya Pradesh 5 7,085
9 Tripura 4 5,704
10 Uttarakhand 3 3,863
11 Jammu & Kashmir 3 2,950
12 Manipur 3 4,940
13 Chhattisgarh 2 2,557
14 Himachal Pradesh 1 643
15 Kerala 1 1,496
16 Mizoram 1 1,456
17 Nagaland 1 1,507
Total 256 3,75,936
Bengaluru Division has run lion’s share of Shramik specials – 223 so far ferrying 3.28 Lakhs passengers. Hubballi Division has run 21 Shramik Special carrying 30,580 passengers and Mysuru Division has run 12 Shramik Specials ferrying 16,974 passengers
SWR is transporting passengers to their destination as per the demand of State Government with proper protocol under advice to State Government to be ready to accept them after screening etc,. Initially these special trains were being run from point to point with no stoppages en-route.
Later to accommodate many passengers with different destinations with the same / enroute State, stoppages were given as advised by State Government. Karnataka State Govt. is arranging to bring passengers of Shramik Special trains to the stations through BMTC Buses as per the protocol, after due process of registration.
Care is being taken to ensure social distancing, wearing masks and sanitizing of hands and making regular announcements to caution the passengers for prevention and spread of Covid-19 virus before departure from stations.
Hand Sanitizer along with liquid soap has been provided in all coaches to protect against the spread of Covid-19 Virus. Railway is also ensuring complete sanitization of all coaches before boarding of special trains by the passengers.
Special Trains are departing the Stations only after all the passengers are medically examined by the Government of Karnataka and issued a medical certificate. Thermal screening is again done by Railway Medical Teams at the stations. None of the passengers were detected with high temperature.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) team is escorting the trains and ensuring social distancing. Details of passengers, coach-wise with address and mobile Nos. have been obtained. Details have been digitized and stored for contact tracing in future, if required.
In association with NGOs, Railways is supplying three meals right at the boarding point.
1) Each food packet contains Ricebath, 4 chapatis with pickle, 2 oranges, 2 one litre water bottles, 2 roti with sabji, 1 pack Ricebath, 1 kara bun, 1 sweet bun, sponsored Labour department associated with WIPRO Azim premji and Mercy mission.
2) Second pack, 200ml water bottles 4no, 2 Maza tetra packets, 2 buns, 4 pineapple, 4 laddu, 1 mixer packet sponsored by NGO
The operations of “Khushi ” and ” Put the Smile back” launched by Bengaluru Division where toys are distributed to the children of the migrant workers have been widely appreciated by all quarters.
Shri A.K. Singh, General Manager said that Railway has been actively engaged in Shramik special – with Mission of reuniting stranded people with their families, was a mammoth one and given the level of complexity in view of prevailing pandemic conditions, it was extremely challenging.
He appreciated Divisional teams for managing all train operations smoothly. Shri Singh told that in case any further requirement of Shramik specials is received from State Govt., same will be arranged within 12 -16 hours.
