New Delhi, July 31: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Wednesday that Indian Railways operated 527 Holi Special, 6369 Summer Special and 4480 Chhath and Diwali Special trains last year during festivals and holidays.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today that there was a huge difference in passenger traffic from the year 2019 to 2024 due to the pandemic. However, Indian Railways (IR) runs various types of regular timetable trains, such as suburban, short-distance passenger trains, long-distance, mail express, superfast trains, which operate with different composition for different classes of passengers.
Vaishnaw said that as per the existing policy regarding the composition of mail and express trains, a 22 coach train has provision for 12 general class and sleeper class non-AC coaches and eight AC coaches, thereby providing more convenience to passengers using general and non-AC sleeper coaches. Currently, two-thirds of the total coaches being used for operating train services are non-AC and one-third AC type. Additionally, Indian Railways has also started operating Amrit Bharat services which are fully non-AC trains providing high quality services to passengers. Apart from this,
Indian Railways constantly strives to provide additional convenience to passengers traveling by operating special train services during festivals, holidays, etc. During 2023, 527 Holi Specials, 6369 Summer Specials and 4480 Chhath and Diwali Specials were operated. Apart from this, to meet the additional demand, the number of trains is increased on both permanent and temporary basis. These are the processes going on at Indian Railways. Apart from this, keeping in mind the increasing demand, Indian Railways has planned to make 10,000 non-AC coaches including general class and sleeper class coaches.
