VELLORE : Want to travel long distance, but stuck with the dreaded RAC ticket? Fret not, as the Indian Railways has decided to reduce sleeper berths across all classes to accommodate more RAC ticket holders from January 16 next year. This plan aims at accommodating more passengers in the waiting list.
Presently, five side lower sleeper berths are earmarked per coach in the Sleeper Class. This arrangement accommodates 10 RAC ticket holders.
When the new rules will come into force, 14 RAC ticket holders will be benefited, as two additional side lower berths will be earmarked for them.
Similarly, the number of RAC seats earmarked in AC 3-tier class will be increased from four to eight at the expense of two side berths.
Similarly, RAC seats in II class AC will rise from four to six at the expense of a side berth.
Quoting the recent railway board order, official sources from the Southern Railway told Express that the revised allocation of seats would increase the chances of waitlisted passengers to get RAC seats.
“More than 50 per cent of trains operated in the Southern Railway region run with 24 coaches (maximum permitted number). Each train has 13 to 15 sleeper coaches.
The revised allocation would add a minimum of 35 to 40 passengers in all the classes,” added an officer.
The Southern Railway covers Tamil Nadu and Kerala, with six head divisions at Chennai, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchy, Thiruvananathapuram and Palakkad.
According to officials, this new arrangement would mainly benefit a few highly-congested sections, including Chennai-Howrah, Chennai-New Delhi, Chennai-Madurai, Chennai-Thriuvananthapuram and Katpadi-Howrah.
Officials said berths, which remain vacant in the intermediate stations on several long distance routes, including Mangaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad, even after catering to all the RAC passengers, will get filled under the new arrangement.
However, the flip side of the move is that it would reduce the chances of senior citizens and pregnant women getting side lower berths. T Mohammed Mubeen, member of Divisional Rail Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), Chennai, said, “Many senior citizens prefer walking into reservation counters over online booking to get lower berths. If two persons occupy the side berths, elders and pregnant women will have to negotiate with the passengers for lower berths,” he added.
The board directed the railway zones to implement the changes, with effect January 16, 2017, on trains that do not run with LHB coaches.