Parliament Question: Reduction in Number of Sleeper Class Coaches in Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1735 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025 REDUCTION IN NUMBER OF SLEEPER CLASS COACHES IN TAMIL NADU

1735. DR. GANAPATHY RAJKUMAR P:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of the fact that many number of Sleeper Class (SL) coaches has been reduced in many trains running across Tamil Nadu;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with reasons for reducing SL coaches in many trains;

(c) whether the Government has received any representations from railway passengers' associations to add more SL coaches in these trains for the convenience of middle-class families and common people; and

(d) if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) to (d) Indian Railways (IR) have significantly increased the facilities for passengers demanding general/sleeper 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 1: Distribution of coaches:

Coach type No. of Coaches Percentgage 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:

Seat Type No. of seats Percentage Non-AC seats ~ 54 lakhs ~ 78% AC seats ~ 15 lakhs ~ 22% Total ~ 69 lakhs 100%Further, as the Railway network straddles across State boundaries, trains are operated/augmented, as per network requirement, across such boundaries.

As on 01.04.2025, the total number of coaches held, for trains operations, by Southern Railway (which primarily serves the State of Tamil Nadu), has a holding of around 5,300 coaches for train operations, of which around 1400 coahces ( i.e. 26%) coaches are AC while 3900 (i.e.74%) coaches are non-AC coaches (General and Sleeper).

During 2024-25, Southern Railway has attached 167 un-reserved class coaches in 132 Mail/Express trains by replacing 138 AC coaches and 29 sleeper coaches for the convenience of common people.

Moreover, 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.

Railways have developed a fully non-AC modern train named as Amrit Bharat express. Presently, 14 Amrit Bharat 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.

Further, to cater to the needs of passengers desirous of availing unreservedaccommodation, Indian Railways (IR) operate unreserved non- AC passenger trains/ MEMU / EMU etc. for affordable travel, which are inaddition to the unreserved accommodation (coaches) available in Mail/Express services.

By introducing Amrit Bharat Express trains, manufacturing of MEMU trains, and by executing a special manufacturing programme for 17,000 non-AC general/sleeper coaches over the next 5 years, Indian Railways is committed to effectively cater to the travel demand of the low and middle income families who prefer to travel by Railways as an affordable means of transportation.

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