The Indian Railways on Saturday said it would run an additional 2,600 special trains in the next 10 days to transport nearly 36 lakh stranded migrant workers, PTI reported. Railway Board chairperson VK Yadav said a schedule had been prepared based on the requirements of different states.

Since May 1, a total of 2,600 special trains have operated, carrying about 36 lakh passengers, Yadav said, adding that the Railways would continue to run them as long as they were needed. He also said 1,000 ticket counters have been opened across India and more will be opened soon.

On a question about the Uttar Pradesh bound train from Maharashtra reaching Odisha, the chairperson claimed there was a network congestion on the routes and therefore it was diverted, according to The Hindu. “We have a train operation protocol... we are monitoring 24x7 and taking decisions on every train,” Yadav added. “We diverted some trains... if we run trains on the same route, no train will be able to reach; it is better to run trains on routes which have less traffic. This procedure is followed even in normal times.”

He also said that the railways was charging the normal pre-lockdown fares from passengers travelling on special trains.

Meanwhile, Punya Salila Srivastava, joint secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, on Saturday said around four crore migrant labourers are engaged in various works in different parts of the country and so far 75 lakh of them have returned home in trains and buses.

Her comments came after many workers on board the special trains arranged by the Centre running through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar protested about the squalid conditions of travel and inordinate delays in train schedules. Many of them also alleged that they were not given anything to eat or drink during the journey, while others claimed they were fed rotten food.

On May 21, Indian Railways had opened the booking process for 200 special trains that will start ferrying passengers from June 1. The booking for these trains currently can only be done online via IRCTC app or its website.

The nationwide lockdown imposed in March left hundreds of thousands of migrant workers stranded in the places of their work. Millions of them are still walking, cycling, dangerously hitchhiking home, sometimes over distances of more than 1,000 km, often on empty stomachs. More than 170 people have died in accidents on the way.

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