Bhubaneswar: A special train carrying around 1,200 Odia migrant workers will leave for Bhubaneswar from Kerala on Friday.
The train is scheduled to depart from Aluva railway station in Ernakulam district in the southern state at 6 pm.
According to reports, the migrants were stranded in Kochi region of Kerala after enforcement of the countrywide lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The train journey is being facilitated by the Indian Railways following requests by both the Odisha and Kerala governments.
The decision came a few hours after the first such special train carrying migrant workers left Limgampally in Telangana for Hatia in Jhakhand at 5 am on Friday.
On Wednesday, the Union Home Ministry had allowed states to ferry their migrants back in buses. However, chief ministers of many states had also requested that special trains should be allowed to run to bring the migrants home.
