 "Train travel woes to ease: Railways to add 10k non-AC coaches in two years")
The Indian Railways plans to introduce approximately 10,000 non-air-conditioned coaches during this financial year (FY25) and FY26, according to a report by The Economic Times.
Of these 10,000 coaches, around 53 per cent will be general coaches to cater to the travel requirements of regular passengers, the report said, citing officials.
The annual coach production program is designed to address the varying demand for rail services across the country, which is influenced by seasonal changes and increased passenger traffic. This program determines the type and quantity of coaches to be produced each financial year.
The report added that the production of coaches is typically aligned with the requirement.
This fiscal year, a total of 4,485 coaches are set to be produced. This includes 2,605 general coaches (featuring Amrit Bharat general coaches), 1,470 non-AC sleeper coaches (including Amrit Bharat sleeper coaches), 323 seating-cum-luggage rake (SLR) coaches (with Amrit Bharat SLR coaches), 32 high-capacity parcel vans, and 55 pantry cars.
Ensuring the safety of Railways
Following the Sealdah-bound Kanchanjunga Express accident in West Bengal on June 17, railway officials have been directed by the Ministry to expedite the implementation of the Kavach system in a structured mission mode.
Also Read
The Ministry of Railways informed the Cabinet Secretary that Indian Railways aims to deploy the Kavach safety system across 44,000 km of track within the next five years. Kavach is an automated train protection system designed to prevent collisions on the same track.
During a review meeting on Kavach 4.0 in June, Minister Vaishnaw instructed officials to equip all locomotives with the system as soon as it is ready. Currently, three manufacturers are producing the Kavach system, with others in various stages of development, the report noted.
The Ministry of Railways is focused on installing Kavach on the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Howrah routes, with tenders for an additional 6,000 km expected to be issued by the end of this year.
Globally, most major railway networks adopted automatic train protection systems (ATP) similar to Kavach in the 1980s. The Indian Railways followed suit with the approval of the first version of the Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) in 2016.
High Budget expectations
Meanwhile, in the upcoming Budget, government officials are hopeful that the allocation to the railways sector is expected to remain high despite pressures to bring down the pace of budgetary capital expenditure on infrastructure.
In the Interim Budget for 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman designated Rs 2,52,200 crore as gross budgetary support (GBS) for the railways, alongside an additional Rs 10,000 crore from extra-budgetary resources (EBR).
The EBR allocation provides flexibility for the government to defer investments if necessary, while the increased budgetary support reflects a commitment to immediate spending and capital expenditure. Meanwhile, industry experts noted that with road and highway construction nearing the end of its funding cycle, having received Rs 2.78 trillion in the Interim Budget, the railways are set to become the next major focus for investment.