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Railways to manufacture 10,000 non-AC coaches by 2025-26: Officials
The plan includes manufacturing 3,500 general seating coaches, 2,060 three-tier sleeper coaches, and 18 coaches for Amrit Bharat trains in each of the next two fiscal years
New Delhi: The Indian Railways plans to manufacture 10,000 non-air-conditioned coaches by fiscal year 2025-26 to address frequent overcrowding, railway officials said Thursday.
More than half of these coaches will be general seating, a move meant to accommodate passengers after a spree of incidents where those without reservations occupied reserved AC coaches during rush travel, added officials.
“The rolling stock plan for the next two years was sanctioned Thursday by the railway board…This two-year program will meet 17% of our current non-AC coach inventory” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The composition of passenger trains, to be sure, depends on the route and the service. For instance, some trains may be entirely air-conditioned, some may have only a handful of non-AC coaches, while others might have more non-AC than AC coaches.
The railways currently operate about 55,000 non-AC coaches, deployed across 11,000 pairs of trains.
“The demand for rail service is dynamic. The coach production program is based on seasonal variations and passenger traffic growth,” a railway board official said.
The plan includes manufacturing 3,500 general seating coaches, 2,060 three-tier sleeper coaches, and 18 coaches for Amrit Bharat trains in each of the next two fiscal years, the official said.
The decision follows increasing concerns about overcrowding, especially during peak travel months. In April, videos of unreserved passengers occupying AC coaches went viral on social media, prompting political debate.
Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had previously clarified that train compositions remain standard, with 22 coaches per train since the introduction of new LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) coaches.
According to railway data, passenger numbers hit a record high in April 2024, with 411 million journeys in the first three weeks alone, attributed to summer vacations, wedding season, and the general elections.
“There were 10,168 trains running per day before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. This increased to 10,748 last year. Currently, we have around 11,000 trains operating daily,” one of the officials mentioned above said.
Shri Prakash, former member (traffic), railway board said, “Addition of 10,000 non-AC coaches will fill in the gap but it is unlikely to be adequate, looking at the demand.”
