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Railways Are Now Offering Free Train Travel For Nepal Quake Victims

Railways Are Now Offering Free Train Travel For Nepal Quake Victims
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Former Lifestyle editor, HuffPost India

Indian resident Santosh (2L) is met by relatives after being evacuated following an earthquake in Nepal at the railway station in Amritsar on April 27, 2015. International aid groups and governments intensified efforts to get rescuers and supplies into earthquake-hit Nepal on April 26, 2015, but severed communications and landslides in the Himalayan nation posed formidable challenges to the relief effort. As the death toll surpassed 2,000, the US together with several European and Asian nations sent emergency crews to reinforce those scrambling to find survivors in the devastated capital Kathmandu and in rural areas cut off by blocked roads and patchy phone networks. AFP PHOTO/NARINDER NANU (Photo credit should read NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)
NARINDER NANU via Getty Images
Indian resident Santosh (2L) is met by relatives after being evacuated following an earthquake in Nepal at the railway station in Amritsar on April 27, 2015. International aid groups and governments intensified efforts to get rescuers and supplies into earthquake-hit Nepal on April 26, 2015, but severed communications and landslides in the Himalayan nation posed formidable challenges to the relief effort. As the death toll surpassed 2,000, the US together with several European and Asian nations sent emergency crews to reinforce those scrambling to find survivors in the devastated capital Kathmandu and in rural areas cut off by blocked roads and patchy phone networks. AFP PHOTO/NARINDER NANU (Photo credit should read NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)

Reaching out to earthquake victims evacuated from Nepal, the Railways has made travel for them free of cost besides arranging special trains.

A special railway reservation counter has also been set up at Delhi's T-3 International Airport so that evacuees can reach their destination within India without any hassle.

All railway stations near the Nepal border have been fully geared up to provide all possible assistance, according to a senior Railway Ministry official.

Special travel arrangements have been made at Gorakhpur railway station in Uttar Pradesh and Raxaul station in Bihar for people coming from Nepal. Also, special trains have been arranged from Raxaul towards Kolkata and Patna.

Help booths and first aid centres have been set up at these border stations for the benefit of the victims.

"The stranded persons coming from Nepal are being provided berths/seat in trains by attaching additional coaches," said the official.

So far, more than 2,100 persons have been sent to different destinations from Gorakhpur and more than 3,000 persons have been cleared to different destinations from Raxaul, the official said.

Sufficient number of coaches are being kept as standby at both places for any short notice requirement.

Senior railway officials are camping at the stations and coordinating with the local state government administration to supervise assistance.

Additional goods trains of petrol/diesel tanks have been pressed into service and are being moved to Raxaul in the faster mode to ensure availability of adequate stock of petroleum products for supply to Nepal.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is monitoring the situation closely and has directed the Railway Board members to do the same.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.