Hyderabad: More trains on standby to ferry migrant labour

Hyderabad: The South Central Railway (SCR) is gearing up to press into service more trains that would carry migrant labour to their respective states. The Telangana government on Monday decided to facilitate the return of migrant labour to their respective states in 40 special trains starting Tuesday for a week. The trains are being sanitised and parked at different locations. At the Secunderabad Railway Station, three trains with 24 coach capacity are ready and more than two dozen trains have been parked at different locations.

The trains are parked at Moula Ali, Jangoan, Vikarabad, Medchal and other locations. Secunderabad railway station master Rajanarsu said that cleaning, sanitising, checking and filling water is a routine. Ever since the government decided to use the 'Shramik Special' trains to ferry the migrant labour, SCR has been gearing up to meet the demand.

Two trains-Rayanpadu to Chandrapur and Ghatkesar to Khagaria left from Telugu speaking states carrying approximately 2,200 migrant labour here on Tuesday. The workers were brought to Ghatkesar station in 45 buses. They were provided with food and drinking water. The non-stop trains would halt only for railway personnel to change shifts.

Till date three trains carried labourers. When asked whether the State government bore the expenses for the two trains that left on Tuesday, officials were tight-lipped. The Telangana government did bear the expenses of the first train that carried 1,225 passengers from Lingampally to Hatia in Jharkhand.