The second special train for migrants from the city left for Manipur on Sunday.
The train carrying migrant labourers and other stranded people from various States, including Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Guwahati, Assam and Manipur was operated from the Chennai Central railway station. They were brought to the station in chartered MTC buses. Based on the request of the Tamil Nadu government and with the list of passengers, the routes were identified in coordination with different railway zones, said an official of Southern Railway.
As many as 1,148 passengers, majority of them from Manipur and fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, were being sent in the Shramik Special on Sunday following physical distancing norms, a civic official said.
Over 900 fishermen from Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were stranded at the Kasimedu fishing harbour. On Sunday, 685 fishermen were sent to Srikakulam and Kakinada in the special train, the official said.
The passengers were allowed to board the train after temperature screening and verification of records.
The City Police made elaborate security arrangements to prevent other migrant workers stranded here from entering the railway station.
The train proceeding from the city will halt at 12 stations — Gudur junction, Vijayawada, Duvvada near Visakhapatnam, Kurdah Road and Bhadrakh in Odisha; Bhat Nagar, Bholpur Shantiniketan, Malda Town, and New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, New Bongaigaon and Guwahati, Lumding in Assam — before reaching Jiribham in Manipur. The train which started at 10 p.m. on Sunday would reach its destination on Tuesday morning.
