Lok Sabha Question No. 104 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-23
Subject: Surge in Rail Commuters
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: George Baker, KALYAN BANERJEE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.104 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.11.2016

## SURGE IN RAIL COMMUTERS

*104.   SHRI GEORGE BAKER: SHRI KALYAN BANERJEE:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  demand  outstrips  the  supply  of  confirmed  rail tickets especially in the long distance trains and if so, the details thereof  during  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year,  zonewise;
- (b) whether the demand of tickets in the long distance trains is gradually increasing and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether host of passengers fail to travel by train on day-today basis due to non-availability of confirmed tickets; and
- (d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to accommodate the increasing  number  of  rail  commuters  especially  in  the  long distance trains in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

(a) to (d):    A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO.104 BY SHRI GEORGE BAKER AND SHRI  KALYAN  BANERJEE  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 23.11.2016 REGARDING SURGE IN RAIL COMMUTERS. (a) to (c): On Indian Railways, demand pattern varies during peak and lean periods. During peak periods, the demand outstrips the availability. During this period, reserved accommodation especially in the  trains  running  on  popular  routes  particularly  in  upper  class  gets exhausted within short duration of opening of reservation.  However, during lean periods and on non popular routes, confirmed accommodation is available for longer duration in most of the trains. The daily average number of reserved passengers booked and those who  remained  on  waiting  list  after  preparation  of  reservation  chart during the last three financial years in all the trains running on Indian Railways were as under:-

(figures in lakh)

| Financial Year         |   Daily average number of reserved passengers booked but not cancelled |   Daily average number of passengers who remained on waiting list after preparation of reservation charts |
|------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14                |                                                                  12.94 |                                                                                                      1.25 |
| 2014-15                |                                                                  13.4  |                                                                                                      1.23 |
| 2015-16                |                                                                  13.63 |                                                                                                      1.16 |
| 2016-17 (upto October) |                                                                  14.38 |                                                                                                      1.16 |

(d): To cater to the growing needs of the travelling passengers and to …2/-

serve  them  better,  Indian  Railways  enhances  availability  of  services and berths/coaches which is an ongoing process subject to operational feasibility,  commercial  viability,  availability  of  resources  etc.  During the year 2016-17 (till October), 37 new trains have been introduced, run of  27  trains  has  been  extended  and  frequency  of  4  trains  has  been increased.

Indian  Railways  also  facilitates  the  passengers  by  augmenting the  load  of  popular  train  services  by  attaching  extra  coaches  on permanent  basis  and  thereby  generating  extra  carrying  capacity. During financial year 2016-17 (upto October), 483 coaches have been augmented which generated an additional capacity of 35827 berths/seats per trip.

In  addition  to  this,  during  peak  seasons  like  summer  vacations, winter  vacations,  festivals  including  Holi,  Pooja,  Dussehra,  Diwali, Chhath, etc. special trains are operated by Indian Railways to clear the extra  rush  of  passengers.    During  the  financial  year  2016-17  (till October 2016), 23057 special train trips were run and 60895 coaches were attached on temporary basis.

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