New Delhi, May 27 (IANS): The Indian Railways transported over 48 lakh stranded migrant workers in 26 days in 3,543 Shramik Special trains that started operating since May 1.

A railway ministry official on Wednesday said, "As on May 27, a total of 3,543 Shramik Special trains have been operated from various states across the country and till date 48 lakh people have been ferried in last 26 days."

The official said that on Tuesday, the national transporter operated 255 Shramik Specials. He said, the 3,543 Shramik Special trains originated from various states.

"The top five states or union territories from where maximum trains originated are Gujarat (946), Maharashtra (677), Punjab (377), Uttar Pradesh (243) and Bihar (215)."

He said these Shramik Special trains were terminated in various states across the country.

The top five states where maximum trains terminated are Uttar Pradesh (1,392), Bihar (1,123), Jharkhand (156), Madhya Pradesh (119) and Odisha (123).

The official said that trains running on Wednesday are not facing any congestion.

In addition to Shramik specials, Railways started running 15 pairs of special air conditioned trains connecting New Delhi since May 12.

The railways also plans to start 200 more time tabled trains from June 1, bookings for which have also commenced last week.

The railways has suspended the services of passenger, mail and express trains from March 25 amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of novel coronavirus.