Indian Railways starts special trains to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar for migrant workers after Delhi imposes lockdown

Representational Image (Credit: PTI)

New Delhi: Indian Railways’ Northern Railway zone on Tuesday (April 20) added special trains from New Delhi to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh over the next three days to cater to demand as migrant workers who seek to head back to their native states. 

After the announcement of 6-day lockdown in Delhi on Monday (April 19), a large number of workers were witnessed arriving at railway stations. The Indian Railways have announced two special trains to help such travellers.

One of the two special trains to Sharasa, Bihar will start today, while the second train will be heading to Bhagalpur, Bihar tomorrow. 

According to information received from Northern Railway, a train called Summer Special will run from Anand Vihar Terminal today to Saharsa at 11:15 at night. 

This special train en route Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur Central, Ash Bagh, Badshahnagar, Barabanki, Gonda, Basti, Khalilabad, Gorakhpur, Deoria Sadar, Siwan, Chapra, Sonpur, Hajipur, Muzaffarpur, Samastipur, Dalsingh Sarai, Barauni, Begusarai. , Will stay at Khagaria and Mansi stations.

New Delhi-Bhagalpur Summer Special Express will depart from New Delhi at 11:15 pm on Wednesday (April 21). The train will reach Bhagalpur at 07:30 in the evening the next day. On the way, this special train will stop at Kanpur Central, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Jn or Mughalsarai, Patna, Patna Sahib, Fatua, Bakhtiyarpur, Barh, Mokama, Hathidah, Kiul, Kajra, Abhaypur, Dharahara, Jamalpur, Bariarpur and Sultanganj stations. 

The authorities added that reservation is necessary for boarding these trains. Adding that the passengers are advised to make reservations in these two special trains at least four hours before the train departs.

Additionally, UP Minister Sidharth N Singh on Tuesday said, “after Delhi CM imposed lockdown, ripple effects were seen on its contiguous borders with Ghaziabad & Noida as migrant workers were left to fend for themselves. UP CM facilitated buses last night to help 70,000-1 lakh workers to reach their native places.”

Meanwhile, India registered 2,59,170 new COVID-19 cases and 1,761 deaths in the last 24 hours, the data by the Union Health Ministry showed on Tuesday (April 20, 2021) morning.