Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that a total of 6,511 new general coaches were added to the Indian Railways fleet in the past five years.
The railways will manufacture additional 10,000 non-AC Coaches including General Class and Sleeper Class Coaches, the Minister said in Rajya Sabha.
Amid complaints of overcrowding in the trains, the railways decision to add more general coaches was expected to help meet the increased demand for non-AC coaches.
The Minister also said that the existing policy on composition of mail and express trains provides for 12 non-AC general and sleeper class coaches and eight AC coaches in a train having 22 coaches.
He said that of the total number of coaches presently in use, two-thirds are non-AC, and one-third are AC variants.
He added, "The extant policy regarding composition of Mail/Express trains, provide for 12 (Twelve) General class & Sleeper class non-AC coaches and 08 (eight) AC-Coaches, in a train composition of 22 coaches, thereby providing greater accommodation for passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches."
He also said that Railways has also started Amrit Bharat services which are fully non-AC trains, providing high quality services to the passengers.
The Minister also said more than 3.30 lakh people were penalised and a fine of around Rs 5.13 crore was recovered from them in 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscals for littering and spitting on railway premises.