1 August 2014

Ministry of Railways Clarifies that There is No Plan Whatsoever to Replace All Second Sleeper Coaches with AC Coaches in Mail and Express Trains

Reports have appeared in some section of the media that Railway Board is considering to replace all 2nd class sleeper coaches in mail and express trains within the next five –six years. This is not correct. The reports have in this connection also mentioned that some trains in Southern Railway have attached one AC-3 tier coach in place in 2nd sleeper coach.
The Ministry Railways would like to clarify that Indian Railways, in its role, as a national carrier of the nation, has to cater to the need of all sections/categories of the travelling passengers and as such, at present there is no proposal to replace Sleeper Class coaches of all trains on Indian Railways with AC-III Tier coaches. Incidentally, the composition of a train is subservient to various factors which include the route, timings of the service, journey time is also the traffic pattern on the specific route. Further, augmentation of trans is an on-going process, on Indian Railways, subject to operational feasibility, traffic justification and availability of resourceas including coaches. However, changes in the composition/augmentations of trains are done on the basis of demand pattern and availability of resources.