NEW DELHI: As it emerges as the “most safe and affordable mode of transport”, the Indian Railways is working on a plan to end the wait lists and ensure confirmed tickets to passengers by 2027. Speaking to this newspaper, a senior official said days are not far when there will be no wait lists, but only confirmed tickets. “This is being planned and worked out in anticipation of a massive rise in the number of passengers from 800 crore now travelling per year to 1,000 crore in the next 4-5 years as railways has emerged as the most safe and affordable mode of national transport in the country,” said the official.
He said that to meet such a massive rise in demand, the railways will operate 3,000 more trains. “Around 3,000 extra trains, once operated across the country, will automatically sort out the ‘wait list problem’. For this, infrastructure like new rail lines and associated infrastructure would be developed gradually,” he said. The plan in this regard is learnt to have got a momentum after studying trends in the last few years of originating passengers and huge rush of passengers, especially during the festive season.
The railway is simultaneously working to manufacture 5,000 LHB coaches per year for new trains. “At present, more than 60,000 passenger coaches of both AC and non-AC compositions are available and 10,748 trains are running including 5,774 trains in sub-urban areas.
Minister visits stations
Amid a huge rush of passengers heading towards Bihar and other parts of country ahead of the Chhath festival, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday visited the New Delhi railway station.
He interacted with the passengers and took note of suggestions on arrangements to clear the rush of passengers. The minister met the passengers of Vaishali Express and other trains that were there to board unreserved coaches.
Earlier, when asked by mediapersons, the minister dismissed reports of a shortage of berths for passengers opting for non-AC coaches. He claimed there has been a nearly three-fold increase in the number of special train trips this festive season compared to last year.
“This time, the railways is operating 6,754 additional train trips to clear the festive rush between October 1 and December 31, compared to 2,614 trips generated in the same period last year,” he said. He added that railways has completed 2,423 out of 6,754 trips till date, while remaining trips will be made in the coming days till December 31.
“The railway every year used to do serious planning to make arrangements for passengers for Diwali and Chhatha by monitoring the status of waiting list tickets three months before the start of the festive rush,” the minister said.