Indian Railways: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday (November 16) mentioned he’s engaged on a plan to introduce round 3,000 new trains within the subsequent four-five years to boost the railways’ passenger capability from 800 crore at current to 1,000 crore. Vaishnaw additionally added that reducing journey time is one other goal of his ministry.
“At present, the railways is carrying about 800 crore passengers annually. We have to increase the capacity to 1,000 crore in four to five years as the population is growing,” Vaishnaw advised media on the Rail Bhawan within the nationwide capital.
“For this, we need 3,000 extra trains which will make several trips to accommodate this increased number of passengers,” Railway Minister Vaishnaw mentioned. According to sources of railway, there are 69,000 new coaches obtainable and yearly it’s manufacturing about 5,000 new coaches. The sources mentioned that with all these efforts the railways can add 200 to 250 new trains yearly and these are moreover 400 to 450 Vande Bharat trains, that are going to be added within the coming years.
Decreasing practice journey time:
Vaishnaw mentioned reducing journey time is one other goal, for which, the railways is working to enhance velocity of trains and broaden the rail community. “It is important to minimise the time taken to accelerate and decelerate a long route train because besides scheduled stoppages, it has to decrease its speed at several cautions and curves along the route,” he added.
“If we take the Delhi-Kolkata route from Rajdhani Express, and if we improve the acceleration and deceleration time at curves, stations and cautions, we will save two hours and 20 minutes from the current total travel time,” Vaishnaw mentioned.
Vande Bharat saves time:
He acknowledged that Vande Bharat’s acceleration and deceleration is 4 occasions higher than different mail and specific trains and that’s the explanation it saves quite a lot of journey time and has higher common velocity. Since it’ll take time to introduce Vande Bharat on all routes, the railways is understanding an intermediate answer to enhance the acceleration and deceleration by doubling it from the present observe, he mentioned.
“This is possible with a technology known as push-pull configuration mode. We are planning to introduce this push-pull configuration on all the coaches which are being manufactured now. Long-distance trains will be upgraded and significant travel time will be saved,” Vaishnaw mentioned.
Besides the push-pull mode, Vaishnaw additionally mentioned that as a substitute of getting a practice with separate coaches hooked up collectively, the railways is working to have a practice with built-in 22 coaches (a practice set with 22 coaches) which may have a number of advantages for the passengers.
“So, instead of turning out coaches from our factories, now we will turn out trains. It has a lot of safety measures so they are safe and convenient in several ways,” he mentioned.
Construction of flyovers, underpasses:
Vaishnav mentioned yearly round 5,000 km of tracks are laid to additional improve the capability considerably.
“As many as 1,000 flyovers and underpasses have also been sanctioned and work has started at many places. Last year, we constructed 1,002 flyovers and underpasses and this year we have a target of 1,200,” Vaishnaw added.
Indian Railways targets zero waiting lists in 4-5 years: Sources
In a daring transfer, the Railways Ministry has introduced its formidable aim of eliminating waiting lists totally in 4-5 years. Sources throughout the ministry revealed a complete plan to handle the rising demand, notably for normal and sleeper-class coaches. Sources mentioned that from April to October 2023, the info signifies a major shift in passenger distribution.
Non-AC coaches, together with General and Sleeper courses, witnessed a staggering 95.3 per cent of the full passengers carried, totalling a exceptional 372 crore passengers. This marks a considerable improve of 38 crore passengers in comparison with the earlier yr, emphasising the rising desire for economical journey choices. Sources additional mentioned that, in distinction, AC coaches accommodated 4.7 per cent of the full passengers carried, summing as much as 18.2 crore travellers. Notably, this represents a notable improve of three.1 crore passengers in comparison with the earlier yr.
The general surge in passenger numbers amounted to 41.1 crore, representing a 92.5 per cent improve in non-AC passengers (normal and sleeper class). This shift underscores a altering development in passenger preferences in the direction of extra budget-friendly journey choices. Sources knowledgeable that to satisfy this escalating demand, Indian Railways has considerably expanded its providers.
Additional trains put up COVID-19:
In comparability to pre-COVID days, an extra 562 trains are actually operational each day throughout the IR community. This growth encompasses varied classes, with mail and specific trains rising from 1,768 to 2,122, suburban trains from 5,626 to five,774, and passenger trains from 2,792 to 2,852, leading to a complete of 10,748 trains working every day.
This proactive method by the Ministry of Railways not solely addresses the present surge in demand but in addition lays the groundwork for attaining a future the place waiting lists turn into a factor of the previous, making certain a smoother and extra environment friendly journey expertise for thousands and thousands of passengers.
(With companies inputs)
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