Parliament Question: Unreserved Train Coaches for Tamil Nadu

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2986 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025 UNRESERVED TRAIN COACHES FOR TAMIL NADU 2986. DR. GANAPATHY RAJKUMAR P: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether the Sothern Railways will consider favorably to attach more unreserved coaches in all trains within Tamil Nadu due to increase of passenger traffic day by day at major railway stations including Chennai, Trichay, Madurai and Coimbatore and the total passenger traffic expected to be 77.41 crore during the current financial year, the Southern Railway is at the forefront of running trains without any delays in the country; and (b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) & (b) As the Railway network straddles across state boundaries, trains are operated/augmented, as per network requirement, across such boundaries. With a view to meet the demand of passengers travelling in unreserved coaches, 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 including those catering to Tamil Nadu area. --/2--2- To cater to the travel demand of the low and middle income families, Indian Railways have taken up 17,000 non-AC coaches (general/sleeper). On IR, the percentage of non-AC coaches, is about 70% as indicated below: Table 1: Distribution of coaches: Non-AC coaches (general and sleeper) ~57,200 ~70% 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. 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% --/3--3- 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 provide affordable means of transportation to the low- and middle- income families, Indian Railways have introduced Amrit Bharat services that are fully non-AC modern trains. As on 3.11.2025, 30 services are already in operation. The present composition of Amrit Bharat consists of 11 General Class coaches, 8 Sleeper Class coaches, 01 Pantry Car and 02 Luggage cum Divyangjan coaches. Besides, in its constant endeavour to provide additional accommodation to travelling passengers, Indian Railways (IR), operates Special train services during festivals, holidays, etc. to cater to the extra needs of passengers and supplement the accommodation available by regular services. In addition to the above, the load of trains are also augmented, both on a permanent and temporary basis, to generate additional accommodation for different segments of passengers. Accordingly, on the Indian Railways(IR) network, during Year 2025-26 (till November, 2025), about 60,000 special trains have been operated and more than 700 coaches have been utilized for augmentation of train services on a permanent basis. Chennai is served by 160 train services while Tiruchchirappalli is served by 155 train services. Similarly, Madurai and Coimbatore are served by 116 and 168 train services respectively. --/4--4- Indian Railways(IR), during 2025-26 (upto November 2025), have introduced more than 200 train services of which 12 train services including 16601/02 Erode-Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express caters to the needs of stations located in the State of Tamil Nadu. To cater to the needs of the passengers, 364 services have been standardized in Southern Railway by augmenting with 4 un-reserved class coaches in each rake. Further, Southern Railway has operated 162 special services having unreserved class coaches as well. In addition, 219 unreserved class coaches have been augmented on temporary basis by Southern Railway and 11 General Class coaches have also been augmented on permanent basis. *****