Coronavirus lockdown | Demand for Shramik trains slumps to 30 daily in June: Report

The demand for Shramik Special trains has started declining after it transported nearly six million people in May. The demand for Shramik Express went down to 30 trains per day as on June 3 as against 255 train services required on May 26.

Moreover, according to a Business Standard report, the originating states have also demanded that the special trains be run only till June 16. Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has also said that it will run trains on the basis of requests coming in from the states.

The Shramik train services started from May 1 to help migrant labourers stranded in various parts of the country return to their natives amid the coronavirus lockdown. Till June 4, nearly sixty lakh passengers returned home via the 4,261 trains. Out of the total Shramik special trains operated so far, as many as 40 percent were headed to Uttar Pradesh and another 36 percent to Bihar – the two states that contribute to a major chunk of the country’s labour force.

For live updates on coronavirus, click here

In a letter addressed to the states, the Indian Railways informed that there is a demand for 171 Shramik special trains from various states up till June 16. Most of these trains will be originating in the south Indian states, including 66 in Kerala, 26 in Tamil Nadu, and 18 in Karnataka.

The special trains such as Rajdhani are also reportedly running on low occupancy of around 60 percent at present. To be precise, the occupancy of 15 pairs of Rajdhani trains went down to 62 percent between June 1 and June 7, while the occupancy of the 100 pairs of special mail-express trains went down to 67 percent in the same period. The railways have opined that the lower occupancy could be due to the travel restrictions that have been imposed by certain state governments.

To follow our full coverage on coronavirus, click here