Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has urged Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to take effective measures and precautions before allowing more trains to run from June 1.

In a letter to the Union Minister, Baghel suggested that trains should run from point to point like Shramik specials meant to ferry stranded workers and the maximum number of stoppages should be two.

From the perspective of social distancing, the number of passengers should be kept below the prescribed capacity, he added.

The Chief Minister requested the Railway Minister to give concession in fares of all classes to passengers on humanitarian grounds in this hour of crisis following the outbreak of Covid-19 and the dragging lockdown.

The Railways have decided to run 200 trains across the country from June 1. Baghel said that without effective steps and guidelines, this would boost the possibility of spreading the coronavirus infection.

In view of the steady increase in the number of coronavirus cases across the country, there is a need to operate trains with considerable caution, he added.

Baghel also told the Railway Minister to disable emergency chains in trains, saying this should not be allowed under any  circumstances.

As per the guidelines issued by the central government, screening of railway passengers at the destination point and ensuring their quarantine will be a challenging task for the states, he stated. All those arriving by train should be quarantined for 14 days.

Therefore, after the train starts its journey, detailed details of the passengers including mobile number and Aadhaar number should be provided to the states so that necessary arrangements can be made by the state governments.

Baghel has expressed hope in the letter that with the implementation of the above suggestions and other necessary better arrangements, train operations will be taken up from June 01.