According to officials, the Indian Railways will soon receive around 10,000 new non-air-conditioned coaches. The news has been announced for the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26.
New Non-AC Coaches
About 10,000 new non-AC coaches will be granted to the Indian Railways in these two years, and 53% of these coaches will be reserved for the general section. The step has been taken to deal with the high demand of Indian Railways in the recent times, which has even caused overcrowding, injuries, and disruption to services.
According to a report by The Economic Times, 4,485 coaches will be manufactured in 2024, including 2,605 general coaches, 1,470 non-AC sleeper coaches, 323 seating-cum-luggage rake coaches, 32 high-capacity parcel vans, and 55 pantry cars. For the next year, Indian Railways plans to make 2,710 general coaches, 1,919 non-AC sleepers, 514 SLR coaches, 200 parcel vans, and 110 pantry cars.
IR Speaks
Officials, on the announcement, stated, “The demand for rail service is dynamic and decreases/ increases depending upon seasonal variations, growth of passenger traffic, etc. The requirement of the coaches is based on these factors and gets included in the annual coach production programme. The production of coaches normally commensurate with the requirement.”