E-Paper
Special train for migrant labour to leave Pune for Rewa at 5 pm today
A notification issued by the Railways Board said the train will run on end-to-end basis and there will be no commercial halt en route.
The Central Railway’s special Shramik train for stranded migrant workers will be leave Uruli station near Pune at 5 pm on Thursday for Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, where it will scheduled to arrive at around 11 am on Friday. This will be the first such train from Pune. Rewa is about 400 km northeast of the state capital Bhopal.
A notification issued by the Railways Board said the train will run on end-to-end basis and there will be no commercial halt en route. The train will have seating for 1,100 passengers with coach having a capacity of 54. The four general coaches will accommodate a maximum of 40 persons each.
A railway official said only registered migrants would be allowed on the train and they will be brought to the state in buses. The government’s nodal officer will purchase the tickets which will be handed over to the passengers after due verification. The passengers will be expected to maintain social distancing norms.
On Wednesday, Pune district collector Naval Kishore Ram had said that the special train from Pune won’t start from Pune railway station as there would be a huge crowd there and the area comes under the red zone.
Alternate stations close to Pune such as Daund, Uruli and Loni were being considered.
Pune divisional railway manager (DRM) Renu Sharma said the railways was ready to run the special train on any given day and time. “Once we get the consent and list of passengers from the Pune district administration the special train will run from Pune railway division with all the safety and precautionary measures,” she had said.
A senior official from the Pune district administration said that thousands of applications have been received from migrant workers who were eager to travel towards the northern parts of the country.
