Ministry of Railways says route congestion due to delays in departure now cleared

Ministry of Railways on Monday, May 25 announced that the route congestion issue that had cropped up last week has now been cleared. In a statement, the Ministry stated that the congestion was due to the delay in departures.

READ: Surge In East-bound Migrant Special Trains Leading To Network Congestion, Diversions: Railways

Railway congestion cleared

The Ministry of Railways issued a statement that read, "The rail route congestion which was being witnessed on May 23 and 24 is over. The congestion had occurred due to convergence of more than two-third rail traffic on routes to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and late clearance of the terminals due to health protocol set that needed to be completed by state authorities. The matter has resolved through active consultation with State Governments and also finding other feasible routes for the journey."

On Saturday, a Shramik Special train from Mumbai which was to reach Gorakhpur, on Friday evening after a 24-hour journey, was rerouted via Odisha, adding two days and five states to the original journey. Officials said that the routes were so congested that it was difficult to operate trains on them and routes in eastern Uttar Pradesh, like the Goraphpur-Gonda-Lucknow line, were completely saturated.

Adding to the misery of the migrants, trains delay affected the meal distribution schedule on board, leading to thousands of passengers going without provisions. There were reports from many railway stations about protests by passengers over meals.

READ: Rail Ministry Hits A Milestone; 500 Shramik Trains Originated From Mumbai Central Division

Earlier, the Railways Ministry had stated that till May 25, 3060 Shramik Special trains have been operationalised across the country and more than 40 lakh passengers were taken to their home by the Shramik special trains. A statement by the Ministry read, "Out of 3060 Shramik Special Trains, 2608 trains have been terminated, 453 trains are on run. On 24.05.2020, 237 Shramik Specials were run, moving 3.1 lakh passengers."

The top five states/UTs from where maximum trains originated are Gujarat (853), Maharashtra (550), Punjab (333), Uttar Pradesh (221), and Delhi (181). The Ministry further said that the "top five states where maximum trains terminated were Uttar Pradesh (1245), Bihar (846), Jharkhand (123), Madhya Pradesh(112), Odisha (73)".

READ: Railways Not Providing Details About Movement Of Shramik Specials: Odisha

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