The Indian Railways on Monday, 15 June said it managed to recover only 15 percent of operational cost after it had ferried 60 lakh migrant workers home since 1 May through Shramik Special trains.
Chairman VK Yadav, as quoted by The Indian Express (IE) said the average fare per person on Shramik Special trains was Rs 600 and Railways had run 4,450 Shramik trains so far through which it generated a revenue of around Rs 360 crore.
“The average fare of Shramik Special trains is Rs 600 per passenger. One has to keep in mind that these are normal fares and not fares for special trains which are higher. We carried 60 lakh passengers, so the revenue can be calculated. We however, managed to recover only 15 percent of cost of operations,” said Yadav.
“Now very few people are left behind. The railways with the state government will arrange for their return,” Yadav said, as quoted by IANS.
Speaking to reporters through video link, the Chairman said, the demand for Shramik special train had fallen in the last couple of days. Yadav said he had written to the state governments on 3 June and received requests for 171 Shramik special trains. “Between 4 June and 14 June, we operated 222 Shramik special trains,” he said, assuring states of providing trains within 24 hours of the request.
Before 25 May, the railways was operating over 250 trains to ferry the stranded workers.
(With inputs from The Indian Express and IANS.)
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