**Summary:**
This document summarizes data regarding passenger travel on Indian Railways, responding to questions raised in Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1712, answered on July 30, 2025. The data covers the period from 2018-19 to 2024-25.
**Key Findings:**
* **Passenger Volume:** Indian Railways carried 41.93 billion passengers between 2018-19 and 2024-25. Passenger numbers decreased in financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but subsequently recovered.
* **Train Operations:** The average number of passenger trains operated daily was 13,169 in 2019-20 and increased to 13,940 in 2024-25.
* **Coach Composition:** The current policy for Mail/Express trains prioritizes accommodation for passengers in General and non-AC Sleeper coaches. A standard 22-coach train comprises 12 non-AC Sleeper coaches and 8 AC coaches. Indian Railways has increased general coach availability, utilizing 1,250 general coaches in long-distance trains in 2024-25 alone.
* **Coach Distribution:** Approximately 70% of coaches on Indian Railways are non-AC (General and Sleeper), totaling 57,200 coaches, while 30% are AC coaches, totaling 25,000. The total number of coaches is 82,200.
* **General/Unreserved Travel:** Passenger numbers in general unreserved coaches have shown an increasing trend: 99 million in 2020-21, 275 million in 2021-22, 553 million in 2022-23, 609 million in 2023-24, and 651 million in 2024-25.
* **Seat Distribution:** Non-AC seats constitute 78% of the total, amounting to 5.4 million seats, while AC seats make up the remaining 22%, totaling 1.5 million seats. The total number of seats available is 6.9 million.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Railways: A ministry of the Government of India responsible for the country's rail transport.
Lok Sabha: The lower house of the Parliament of India.
Ashwini Vaishnaw: The Minister of Railways, Information Broadcasting and Electronics Information Technology.
Indian Railways: The state-owned railway company of India.
COVID pandemic: The global pandemic of COVID-19, which impacted passenger numbers on Indian Railways.
Mail/Express trains: A type of passenger train service in India that provides transportation to passengers across India.
General class: A class of passenger accommodation on Indian Railways, typically the most affordable.
nonAC Sleeper Coaches: A type of railway passenger car in India that provides sleeping accommodation without air conditioning.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1712
TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025
NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TRAVELLING BY RAILWAYS
†1712. SHRI KULDEEP INDORA:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the number of passengers travelled by Railways during
the last seven years, year-wise;
(b) whether the present number of passengers travelling by Railways has
decreased as compared to the pre-Corona period;
(c) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor; and
(d) the details of the average number of trains operated by Indian
Railways across the country everyday during the year 2019 and the
year 2024 along with the average number of coaches of different
classes in the said trains per day?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (d): During the last 7 years (2018-19 to 2024-25), total 4,193 Cr.
passengers travelled in Indian Railways. In Financial year 2020-21 and
Page 1 of 32021-22 there was a drop in number of passengers due to COVID pandemic.
Subsequently, it picked up.
Average no. of passenger trains per day for the year 2019-20 and 2024-25 is
as under:
Table 1: Number of trains run daily:
Year Average no. of passenger trains run daily
2019-20 13,169
2024-25 13,940
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.
Indian Railways (IR) 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.
On IR, the percentage of non-AC coaches, is about 70% as indicated below:
Table 2: Distribution of coaches:
Coach type No. of Coaches Percentage
Non-AC coaches (general and sleeper) ~57,200 ~70%
AC coaches ~25,000 ~30%
Total coaches ~82,200 100%
Page 2 of 3Due to higher availability of general coaches, the number of passengers
traveling in general/ unreserved coaches has shown an increasing trend as
shown below:
Table 3: 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 4: Distribution of seats:
Seat Type No. of seats Percentage
Non-AC seats ~ 54 lakhs ~ 78%
AC seats ~ 15 lakhs ~ 22%
Total ~ 69 lakhs 100%
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