38 Trains from (DNR)DANAPUR to (SPJ)SAMASTIPUR JN

WR Press Release No. 2020/05   Mumbai, 2^ndJune, 2020

MORE THAN 18.23 LAKH MIGRANT LABOURERS AND THEIR FAMILIES LEFT FOR THEIR HOME TOWNS IN WR’S 1214 SHRAMIK SPECIALS

Lakhs of migrant workers and their families were benefitted by the Indian Railway's decision to run Shramik Special trains. In continuation to this Shramik specials were operated by various zonal railways, which left from different stations of the country. In line with this, Western Railway too have operated 1214SHRAMIK SPLtrains from 2nd May, 2020 to 1st June, 2020, which have carried more than 18.23 lakh migrant labourers & their families to their desired destinations.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, out of these shramik specialtrains, 686 trains were bound to Uttar Pradesh, 274 to Bihar, 94 to Orissa, 31 to Madhya Pradesh, 42 to Jharkhand, 16 to Chhattisgarh, 9 to Rajasthan, 6 to Uttarakhand, 35 to West Bengal & 4 to Gujarat states. The special Shramik trains were also operatedto states ofManipur, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Maharashtra. More than 18.23 lakh passengers have been ferried to their home towns in different states of the country from 2^ndMay, 2020 to 1^st June, 2020. Shri Bhakar stated that these Shramik Special trains have helped in facilitating faster movement of stranded labourers and their families to their native places. o­n 1^stJune, 2020, 5 Shramik Special trains left from WR, including3 from Gujarat and 2 from Maharashtra. In these Shramik special trains, 4 trains were bound to West Bengal and o­ne for Assam. Out of these, Mumbai Division operated 4 trains, including 2 trains which were run from Mumbai Suburban section of Western Railway. o­ne train each were run from Borivali station and Bandra Terminus. From 3^rd May to 1^st June, 2020, a total of 181 Shramik Special Trains have originated from Mumbai Suburban Section including 65 Shramik special trains from Bandra Terminus, 71 from Borivali, 31 from Vasai Road, 2 from Dahanu Road and 12 from Palghar station. These trains were departed for Gorakhpur, Jaunpur , Gonda , Varanasi, Pratapgarh, Bhagalpur, Prayagraj, Darbhanga, Danapur, Howrah etc. Thesespecial trains are being operated by maintaining social distancing norms, as well as proper thermal screening of passengers, is also being ensured before boarding the train. During the journey, passengers are also being given free meals and packaged drinking water.

TRANSPORTATION OFESSENTIALS

Shri Bhakar stated that since 22^nd March to 1^st June, 2020, total 5210 rakes of goods trains have been used to supply essential commodities amounting to 10.75 million tonnes. 10,254 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 5167 trains handed over and 5087 trains taken over at different interchange points. 301 Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans / Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) in all have been sent to different parts of the country to cope with the demands of essential materials such as milk powder, liquid milk, medical supplies and other general consumer goods. It is worth mentioning, that during the lockdown period, since 23^rd March to 31^st May 2020, commodities weighing more than 47 thousand tonnes have been transported by Western Rly through its 299 parcel special trains, which included agricultural produce, medicines, fish, milk etc. The earnings generated through this transportation, has been approx Rs 14.91 crore.Under this transportation, thirty six milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 26 thousand tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons, generating revenue of approx Rs 4.57 crore. Similarly, 259 Covid-19 parcel special trains were also run to transport essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was more than Rs 9.56 crore. In addition to this, 4 indented rakes were also run with 100% utilization for earnings of approximately Rs. 78 lakh. He stated that the total loss of earnings over Western Railway inclusive of suburban & non - suburban sections, since March, 2020, has been Rs 1135.31 crore o­n account of lockdown. Inspite of this, resulting to the cancellation of tickets till now, Western Railway has ensured to return refund amount ofRs 299.10 crore. It's worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai division alone, has ensured refund of Rs 141.51 crore. Till now, 45.81 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly.

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WITHDRAWAL OF FEW STOPPAGES OF SOME SPECIAL TRAINS

·REFUND OF JOURNEY FARES THEREOF

Kolkata, June 3, 2020:

As per request of the concerned State Governments few stoppages of following special trains originating from ER or running via ER network will be withdrawn for the trains commencing journey w.e.f. 4.6.2020 as notified earlier:-

Refund of Fares:

In cases where PRS counter ticket has been purchased for such stations where stoppages are cancelled, the PNR shall be cancelled in the reservation system prior to the preparation of first reservation chart. Full refund of fare shall be granted without deduction of cancellation charges o­n surrendering of original ticket across any reservation counter within 30 days of the date of journey. In case of counter tickets booked through digital transactions, refund of fare shall be credited to the transaction account.

In case of E-tickets the refund will be granted without any cancellation charge by IRCTC.