Migrants Distressed as UP-Bound Shramik Train Diverted to Odisha

The Western Railways had said that some long-distance trains are being diverted due to congestion.

Passengers aboard a Shramik train bound for UP’s Gorakhpur from Mumabi have now spent 3 days travelling as the train was reportedly diverted to Rourkela in Odisha.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Passengers aboard a Shramik train bound for UP’s Gorakhpur from Mumbai have now spent three days travelling as the train was reportedly diverted to Rourkela in Odisha.

The passengers were reportedly not informed about the change of route.

“We were supposed to go to Kanpur, after getting off at Gorakhpur. Now we are in Rourkela, and we realized we are in Odisha. We don’t know when it will reach Gorakhpur. We are travelling for the last 36 hours, whereas we could reach home in a day. We are in no state of mind to think. We don’t know what happened, if the driver lost his way,” said one passenger.

The train had reportedly departed from Vasai in Mumbai and passengers said no food or water had been arranged for them on it. However, Railway officials on Saturday said that it was a planned diversion due to traffic congestion.

'Normal to Divert Trains’

Railway board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav, in the daily press briefing, said that it is better to take a longer route and reach the destination on time rather than waiting for decongestion on one route.

“Trains will not reach on time if all of them are run on the same track. It is better to run some trains on routes where there is less traffic. It is quite normal to divert trains,” Vinod Kumar Yadav said.

The Vasai Road-Gorakhpur train, which left the city on May 21 was diverted via Bilaspur, Jharsuguda, Rourkela, Adra and Asansol stations, according to Western Railway PRO Ravindra Bhakar, PTI reported.

The Western Railways also put out an update on Saturday afternoon about the diversion of some trains:

“It is to inform that Vasai Road - Gorakhpur Shramik Special train which departed on 21 May 2020 was to run on Kalyan - Jalgoan- Bhusaval - Khandwa - Itarsi - Jabalpur - Manikpur route but this train will go to Gorakhpur by diverted route ie via Bilaspur (SECR), Jharsuguda Rourkela, Adra, Asansol (ER) due to heavy traffic congestion on existing routes.”

They added that the diversion was on a temporary basis.

Multiple passengers on the train reported being confused about the sudden change, only realizing where they were when the train reached Rourkela. Several women and children were travelling aboard it.