Lok Sabha Question No. 2358 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-30
Subject: Confirmation of Wait-listed Tickets
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: KIRIT SOMAIYA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2358 TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.11.2016

## CONFIRMATION OF WAIT-LISTED TICKETS

2358.  DR. KIRIT SOMAIYA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  it  is  true  that  nearly  10  to  12  lakh  travellers  could  not travel due to non-confirmation of wait-listed tickets on daily basis;
- (b)  if so, whether the Government will evolve a mechanism to confirm wait-listed tickets by running two sets of trains following each other with some time gap to accommodate wait-listed passengers;
- (c) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (d)    the  action  being  contemplated  by  the  Ministry  to  confirm  huge number of wait-listed tickets?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

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

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.2358  BY  DR.  KIRIT  SOMAIYA  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 30.11.2016 REGARDING CONFIRMATION OF WAIT-LISTED TICKETS

(a):  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. During the Financial Year  2016-17(upto  October)  the  daily  average  number  of  reserved passengers  booked  and  those  who  remained  on  waiting  list  after preparation  of  reservation  chart  were  14.38  lakh  and  1.16  lakh respectively. (b) to  (d): To meet the growing needs of the travelling passengers and to cater to unsatisfied demand, 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 have collectively generated an additional capacity of 35827 berths/seats to the existing capacity. 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. Further,  with  a  view  to  providing  confirmed  accommodation  to waitlisted passengers and also to ensure optimal utilisation of available accommodation, the Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme known as 'VIKALP' was introduced as a pilot project on DelhiLucknow  &  Delhi-Jammu  sectors  wherein  any  passenger  getting waiting  list  ticket  at  the  time  of  booking  can  opt  for  shifting  to alternate train in case his/her status remains waiting list at the time of preparation of first reservation chart subject to availability of accommodation  in alternate train. This scheme  has now  been extended on Delhi-Howrah, Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai, DelhiBengaluru and Delhi-Secunderabad sectors also.

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