With Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appealing to the Indian Railways to start a few trains for migrant labourers, IR officials said there are no directives of any kind by the Prime Minister's Office to resume the services till the lockdown was formally lifted.

Sources said Maharashtra is trying to use the Bandra mob gathering incident as an excuse to seek the running of a few trains citing law and order problems, which is a state subject. However, there are practical problems about how this would be implemented. Firstly, almost every state has shut its borders to curb the spread of COVID-19.