Leader of the Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Monday wrote to the chief ministers of different states urging them to make arrangements for free train to the migrant workers, students and patients stranded in their states.

The Centre on Sunday announced that the Indian Railways will gradually restart passenger train services from Tuesday. Initially 15 pairs of trains will carry passengers from New Delhi to different parts of the country, including Dibrugarh in Assam.

Booking for reservation in these trains began on Monday through IRCTC website.

The Centre appealed to all states to permit the operation of more special train for stranded workers so that they can reach home in three-four days. The train booking was supposed to begin at 4pm but was delayed because of some technical snag.

Under the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), two passenger special trains will start running with limited stoppages.

The 12423/12424 Dibrugarh-New Delhi-Dibrugarh (daily) passenger special will run from New Delhi with effect from Tuesday and from Dibrugarh with effect from Thursday with stoppages only at Mariani, Dimapur (Nagaland), Lumding, Guwahati and Kokrajhar in Assam.

The 20501/20502 Agartala-New Delhi-Agartala (weekly) passenger special will run from New Delhi from May 18 and from Agartala from May 20 with stoppages only at Badarpur, Guwahati and Kokrajhar stoppage in Assam.

It is mandatory for all passengers to wear masks and undergo thermal screening before entering the station.

Saikia told the states that if they were unable to bear the expenses of the workers then they can contact the Assam government and share the expense.

“If the respective states and the Assam government cannot bear the cost of the ticket, they can contact the PCC so that they can arrange the train fare,” said Saikia.

Earlier, when the Centre had announced that the migrant workers will have to bear the train fare, AICC president Sonia Gandhi said the Congress would bear the cost.

Following that, the Assam PCC had instructed the district committees to make the arrangements to bear the train fare and specified the categories of party leaders to bear the expense.