Gorakhpur: Two special trains carrying over 2,000 migrant workers stranded in Maharashtra due to the coronavirus lockdown reached here on Monday, officials said.
"The first train 01901 from Bhiwandi carrying 1,145 passengers reached Gorakhpur railway station at 1.20 am. The other train 00975 from Vasai Road railway station with 982 passengers arrived at the station at around 5.30 am," Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sadar (Gorakhpur), Gaurav Singh Sogarwal said.
He said most of the workers were from Khajni, Bansgaon and Gola tehsil of Gorakhpur district.
After their arrival at the station, the migrant workers were sent to their respective native places in buses arranged by the Uttar Pradesh government after a proper medical check-up, the officials said.
The railways is running Shramik Special trains to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded in various parts of the country since March 25.
Gorakhpur district administration and railway officials were present at the station to receive the passengers and ensure that the laid down guidelines like social distancing were maintained, the officials said.
Ram Shabad, who was working in a loom factory in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi, said he was happy to reach home. "I am happy that finally I reached my home town," he said.
Shabad said his identity documents were checked and his medical check-up was done before being allowed to board the train. "Although I came from a quarantine centre, my thermal scanning was done at Gorakhpur railway station too."
28-year-old Aamir of Khajni said he feels it like a miracle to reach home. NDRF Inspector Gopi Gupta said 54 personnel were guarding one of the trains.
Travelling ticket examiners and Railway Protection Force staff were also in the train, he said.
In another UP-bound special train, as many as 1,205 migrant labourers who were stuck in Ahmedabad in Gujarat reached Kanpur on Sabarmati-Kanpur express on Sunday, a railway official said.
The labourers hailed from 53 different districts of the state, including Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, Fatehpur, Jalaun, Jhansi, Etawah, Kannauj, Auraiyya and Farukkabad, he said.
"The labourers were instructed to stand in eight rows to keep space between themselves for the health check-up.
Thermal screening of all passengers was done," City Magistrate Himanshu Gupta said.
The UPSRTC had deployed 43 buses to take the migrant workers to their respective districts, he added. Some labourers told mediapersons that they had to pay the rail fare of the general class.
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