New Delhi, May 11 (IANS): The Indian railways has said that since May 1 it operated 428 Shramik special trains to transport over 4.5 lakh migrant workers, students, pilgrims and tourists stuck across the country due to the nationwide lockdown, to their home states.

A senior Railway Ministry official on Sunday said that 90 such trains were planned to ply, while 64 were started. Meanwhile, 34 trains were run on Saturday, 53 on Friday and 61 on Thursday from different parts of the city. With each passing day, India's migrant crisis is hurriedly solved with the help of these dedicated trains to ferry those migrants who set out for their home, on foot.

Shramik special trains were run from May 1 on the request of different state governments.

The railways has suspended passenger, mail and express trains to combat the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) since March 24. Only freight and special parcel trains are in operation to ensure supply of essential commodities across the country.

However, in what can be construed as a breather, in a late night development on Sunday, the Railway Ministry announced that it has given green signal to passenger train services from May 12.