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Another special train from Delhi to ferry stranded J&K residents
The train will leave New Delhi on Wednesday evening at around 9:00pm and will reach Jammu Tawi on Thursday morning at around 5:45am.
After three Shramik special trains ferried over 3,200 residents of Jammu and Kashmir from Bengaluru, Goa and Delhi to Udhampur district since Tuesday, another train from New Delhi will reach Jammu on Thursday morning.
Chetan Taneja, station director and senior divisional traffic manager of the railways, said, “A special train will leave New Delhi on Wednesday evening at around 9:00pm and will reach Jammu Tawi on Thursday morning at around 5:45am.”
“All arrangements have been made and sufficient mock drills were conducted in the past three days,” he said.
On the same day, the train will leave Jammu at around 8:00pm and reach Delhi at 5:00am on Friday.
“It is a fully air conditioned train and the fare is similar to Rajdhani Express. However, food and blankets will not be provided to the passengers,” he said.
Tanjea said people de-boarding at the railway station will go through the mandatory protocols and guidelines issued by the administration amid COVID-19 pandemic.
He said all arrangements have been made by the administration with regard to testing and providing quarantine facilities to the passengers reaching here.
J&K chief secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam on Monday visited the Jammu railway station and took stock of the mechanism for the upcoming trains bringing stranded people of the UT from other parts of the country.
All officers deployed at different levels were asked to work in close coordination so that the arrangements and logistics work smoothly. The passengers will be asked to follow social distancing norms while deboarding from their trains and ensure strict compliance of all the guidelines and SOPs issued to check the spread of coronavirus.
“Every returnee has to undergo mandatory Covid-19 test and there are no exceptions to it,” said principal secretary Rohit Kansal.
The district administration has been asked to ensure that registration and allocation of buses to the passengers for their journey to their home districts is done in an expeditious and hassle-free manner.
Taneja said all passengers arriving at Jammu Tawi Railway station from May 14 will be tested for Covid-19 on the premises for which the UT administration is making arrangements.
After samples are taken, passengers will be sent to administrative quarantine centers till their report comes.
The train will run on daily basis and railways will ensure proper sanitation.
Meanwhile, the third Shramik special train carrying migrants from Delhi arrived at Udhampur on Wednesday morning.
“The third train reached at 5:30am in Udhampur carrying 316 passengers of Kulgam, 275 of Ramban, 131 of Srinagar, 122 of Kathua, 91of Udhampur, 58 of Poonch, 44 of Rajouri, 31 of Budgam, 22 of Baramulla, 21 of Anantnag, 17 of Samba and 13 of Jammu,” said Udhampur district commissioner Piyush Singla.
He said since Tuesday morning three trains have arrived in Udhampur. “Another train from Goa will reach Udhampur on Wednesday evening,” he added.
The evacuation of J&K residents stranded in Haryana also began early on Wednesday morning, Kansal said, adding that all passengers were being screened at boarding points and those who have registered will be contacted by the administration.
“Evacuation from Haryana begins. Ambala, Hissar, Mewat, Yamunanagar- everywhere screening and boarding in progress...looking forward to your return. Others please be patient. Everyone who has registered will be contacted,” tweeted Kansal.
