Parliament Question: General Class Coaches added to Mail/Express Trains in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1664 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025 GENERAL CLASS COACHES ADDED TO MAIL/EXPRESS TRAINS IN MAHARASHTRA 1664. SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL: SMT. SUPRIYA SULE: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD: SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE: SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware that many poor passengers travelling in General Class face severe overcrowding and often do not get seats particularly in trains operating through Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof; (b) the number of General Class coaches added to Mail/Express trains operating in and through Maharashtra during the current financial year under the initiative to augment LHB-coach trains; (c) whether any data has been maintained for the said State regarding the demand for General Class travel, if so, the details thereof and the measures taken to address it, District or zone-wise; (d) the details of non-AC coaches including General and Sleeper Class Coaches planned to be manufactured for Western Railway, Central Railway and South Central Railway zones serving the said State and the expected deployment timeline; and (e) the long-term strategy of the Railways to ensure affordable, safe and dignified travel for unreserved passengers in the said State including infrastructure at railway stations for general class travellers? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): Railways have significantly increased the facilities for passengers demanding general class travel. During the last financial year 2024-25 alone, 1250 general coaches have been utilised in various long-distance trains.The percentage of non-AC coaches has significantly increased to about 70% as detailed below: Table 1: Distribution of coaches: Non-AC coaches (general and ~57,200 ~70% sleeper) AC coaches ~25,000 ~30% Total coaches ~82,200 100% Due to higher availability of general coaches, the number of passengers traveling in general/ unreserved coaches has shown an increasing trend as shown below: Table 2: Passengers in general/unreserved coaches: Year No. of Passengers 2020-21 99 Cr (Covid year) 2021-22 275 Cr (Covid year) 2022-23 553 Cr 2023-24 609 Cr 2024-25 651 Cr The number of seats available for non-AC passengers has also increased over the years. The current composition is as follows: Table 3: Distribution of seats: Non-AC seats ~ 54 lakhs ~ 78% AC seats ~ 15 lakhs ~ 22% Total ~ 69 lakhs 100%Given the above data, it is clear that Indian Railways is committed to the low and middle income families who prefer railways as an affordable means of transportation. Railways have developed a fully non-AC modern train named as Amrit Bharat express. Already 14 services are in operation. These modern trains have advanced features like Semi-Permanent couplers for jerk free travel, horizontal sliding windows, foldable snack tables and bottle holders, mobile holders etc. These trains comprise 8 Sleeper Class coaches and 11 General Class coaches. To provide greater accommodation for the passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches, the extant policy regarding composition of Mail/Express trains provides for 12 (Twelve) General class & Sleeper class non- AC coaches and 08 (eight) AC-Coaches, in a train of 22 coaches, thereby providing greater accommodation for the passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches. Further, to cater to the needs of passengers desirous of availing unreserved accommodation, Indian Railways (IR) operate unreserved non-AC passenger trains/ MEMU / EMU etc. for affordable travel, which are in addition to the unreserved accommodation (coaches) available in Mail/Express services. Development of Amrit Bharat Express trains, manufacturing of MEMU trains, and increasing the share of general coaches clearly shows that Indian Railways is catering effectively to the demand for travel in general class. Over and above the current high share of non-AC coaches (~70% of total coaches), Railways is executing a special manufacturing programme for 17,000 non-AC general/sleeper coaches over the next 5 years. Station Redevelopment Development / Redevelopment / Upgradation / Modernisation of stations on Indian Railways is a continuous and ongoing process and works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement, subject to inter-se priority and availability of funds. The priority for development / redevelopment / upgradation / modernisation of stations is accorded to higher category of station over lower category of station while sanctioning and executing the works. Ministry of Railways has launched Amrit Bharat Station Scheme for development of stations on a continuous basis with a long-term approach. It involves preparation of master plans and their implementation in phases to improve the amenities at the stations like improvement of station access, circulating areas, waiting halls, toilets, lift/escalators as necessary, platformsurfacing and cover over platform, cleanliness, free Wi-Fi, kiosks for local products through schemes like ‘One Station One Product’, better passenger information systems, executive lounges, nominated spaces for business meetings, landscaping, etc. keeping in view the necessity at each station. The scheme also envisages improvement of building, integrating the station with both sides of the city, multimodal integration, amenities for Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjans), sustainable and environment friendly solutions, provision of ballastless tracks, etc. as per necessity, phasing and feasibility and creation of city centre at the station in the long term. So far, 1337 stations including 132 stations in the state of Maharashtra have been identified for development under this scheme. Development works at railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme in the state of Maharashtra have been taken up at a good pace. Till now, phase-I works of 15 stations (Amgaon, Chanda Fort, Chinchpokli, Devlali, Dhule, Kedgaon, Lasalgaon, Lonand Jn, Matunga, Murtizapur Jn, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Itwari Junction, Parel, Savda, Shahad, Vadala Road) in the state of Maharashtra have been completed under this scheme. Development / Upgradation / Modernisation of stations including under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is generally funded under Plan Head-53 ‘Customer Amenities’. The details of allocation and expenditure under Plan Head-53 are maintained Zonal Railway-wise and not work-wise, or station wise or state- wise. The state of Maharashtra is covered under the jurisdiction of four railway zones, namely Central Railway, South Central Railway, South East Central Railway and Western Railway. For these zones, an allocation of ₹ 3,751 crore has been made for the financial year 2025–26, out of which an expenditure of ₹ 813 crore has been incurred so far. ******