Lok Sabha Question No. 3677 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-02
Subject: Availability of Reserved Berths
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI, SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3677 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.01.2019

## AVAILABILITY OF RESERVED BERTHS

†3677.  SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI: SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA: SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the decisions taken by the Government to ensure the availability of  reserved  berths  for  the  waitlist  passengers  along  with  the outcome thereof;
- (b) whether the Government has conducted any survey to ascertain the percentage of reserved berths provided to the waitlist passengers  during  the  last  three  years  and  if  so,  the  outcome thereof;
- (c) whether any scheme is being prepared to issue minimum number of waitlist tickets to passengers; and
- (d) if so, the manner in which the said scheme is likely to function?

## 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.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  3677  BY  SHRI  CHANDRA  PRAKASH JOSHI, SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI, SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA AND SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 02.01.2019 REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF RESERVED BERTHS

(a)  to  (d):      In  the  computerised  Passenger  Reservation  System (PRS), confirmed berths/seats are allotted on first come first served basis till the availability and thereafter Reservation Against Cancellation  (RAC)/Waiting  List  tickets  are  issued.  The  status  of RAC/Waiting  List  tickets  get  automatically  updated  against  the cancellation of confirmed berths/seats and also against release of unutilised reservation quotas.

The details of approximate number of waiting list passengers whose status got upgraded to RAC/Confirmed from the financial year 2015-16 onwards are as under:

| Financial Year          |   Number of waiting list passengers whose status got upgraded to RAC / confirmed (in millions) |   Percentage of waiting list passengers whose status got upgraded to RAC/confirmed |
|-------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2015-16                 |                                                                                          73.69 |                                                                              71.15 |
| 2016-17                 |                                                                                          70.98 |                                                                              71.9  |
| 2017-18                 |                                                                                          70.22 |                                                                              71.19 |
| 2018-19 (upto November) |                                                                                          51.29 |                                                                              71.18 |

Waiting list of trains is monitored on regular basis and to cater to  additional  rush  during  peak  periods  special  trains  are  run  and load of existing trains are augmented  subject  to operational feasibility.

Further, with a view to providing confirmed accommodation to waiting list passengers and to ensure optimal utilisation of available accommodation, a scheme known as Alternate Train Accommodation (ATAS) known as 'VIKALP' has been introduced to cover all types of trains on all sectors. The scheme aims at reducing waitlisted  passengers  by  providing  alternate  train  accommodation in train having vacant accommodation. For this facility, waiting list passenger has to give an option at the time of booking of ticket & passengers with waiting list status at the time of preparation of first reservation charts are shifted to other trains, subject to availability of vacant accommodation.

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