Lok Sabha Question No. 2142 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-12
Subject: Overcrowding in Non-airconditioned Coaches
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Shri Zia Ur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2142

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.03.2025

## OVERCROWDING IN NON-AIRCONDITIONED COACHES

## 2142. SHRI ZIA UR REHMAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government agrees to the view that the Railways needs to address overcrowding, particularly in non-airconditioned coaches on busy routes;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including steps proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the initiatives taken/being taken by the Government to accelerate the implementation  of  the  Kavach  Automatic  Train  Protection  System  in  a structured mission mode?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (c): On Indian Railways, occupancy pattern of trains is not uniform throughout the year and it varies over lean and peak periods.  During peak rush  periods,  the  occupancy  of  the  trains  especially  on  popular  routes remains full whereas during lean period and on less popular routes, there is sub optimal utilization.

Traffic pattern of the trains running on Indian Railways is monitored on regular  basis  and  to  cater  to  additional  demand,  load  of  existing  trains are augmented,  special  trains  are  run, new  trains  are introduced, frequency  of  existing  trains  is  increased  etc.  subject  to  operational feasibility.

In  its  constant  endeavour  to  provide  additional  accommodation  to travelling  passengers,  Indian  Railways(IR),  in  addition  to  the  various types  of  regular  trains,    also  operates  Special  train  services  during festivals, holidays, etc. to cater to the extra needs of passengers.

Accordingly,  during  the  year  2024,  13523  trips  special  trains  were operated to meet the extra rush of passengers during Holi and summer vacation. To cater to the rush during Durga Pooja/Dipawali/Chhath,  7990 trips of Special trains were operated during the period 1st October, 2024 to 30th November, 2024, to  serve approximately 1.8 crore passengers.

With a view to facilitate the passengers during the recently concluded Maha Kumbh, IR operated more than 17300 trains during the period 13th January, 2025 to 28th February, 2025, which served approximately 4.24 crore passengers.

In addition to the above, the load of trains are also augmented, both on permanent and temporary basis, to generate additional accommodation for different segments of passengers.

During the year 2023-24, 872 coaches have been utilized for augmentation of train services on permanent basis while during the year 2024-25(till February, 2025), 983 coaches have been utilized for permanent augmentation.

Further,  to  provide  greater  accommodation  for  the  passengers  using General and non-AC  Sleeper Coaches,  the extant policy regarding composition of Mail/Express trains provides for 12 (Twelve) General  class & Sleeper class non- AC coaches and 08 (eight) AC-Coaches, in a train of 22 coaches, thereby providing greater accommodation for the passengers using General and non-AC Sleeper Coaches. Besides, of the total number of Coaches being presently utilized for running of train services, two-third are non-AC, and one-third are AC variants.

Additionally,  Indian  Railways  have  introduced  Amrit  Bharat  services, which  have  modern  State-of  the  Art  technology,  are  equipped  with advanced  features  like  Semi-Permanent  couplers  for  jerk  free  travel, horizontal  sliding  windows,  foldable  snack  table  and  bottle  holders, mobile  holders  etc.  These  services,  which  are  fully  non-AC  trains, presently  comprising  12  Sleeper  Class  Coaches  and  8  General  Class coaches, are providing high quality services to the passengers.

With  a  view  to  augment  the  accommodation  and  for  the  benefit  of passengers travelling in unreserved coaches, about 1200 General Class coaches  have  been  attached,  in  the  Mail/Express  trains  operating  with LHB coaches during the current financial year. Keeping in view increased demand,  IR  has  planned  to  manufacture  more  than  17,000  General Class/Sleeper Class (Non-AC) Coaches.

(d)

-  Kavach is an indigenously developed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system.  Kavach  is  a  highly  technology  intensive  system,  which requires safety certification of highest order (SIL-4).
-  Kavach aids the Loco Pilot in running of train within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case Loco Pilot fails to do so and also helps the trains to run safely during inclement weather.
-  The first field trials on the passenger trains were started in February 2016.  Based  on  the  experience  gained and Independent  Safety Assessment  of  the  system  by  Independent  Safety  Assessor  (ISA), three firms were approved in 2018-19, for supply of Kavach Ver 3.2.
-  Kavach was adopted as National ATP system in July 2020.
-  Implementation of Kavach System involves following Key Activities:
-  Installation  of  Station  Kavach  at  each  and  every  station,  block section.
- 
- Installation of RFID Tags throughout the track length.
-  Installation of telecom Towers throughout the section.
- 
- Laying of Optical Fibre Cable along the track.
-  Provision of Loco Kavach on each and every Locomotive running on Indian Railways.
-  Based  on  deployment  of  Kavach  version  3.2  on  1465  RKm  on  south central  Railway,  lot  of  experience  was  gained.  Using  that  further improvements  were  made.  Finally,  Kavach  specification  version  4.0 was approved by RDSO on 16.07.2024.
-  Kavach  version  4.0  covers  all  the  major  features  required  for  the diverse railway network. This is a  significant milestone  in safety for Indian Railways. Within a short period, IR has developed, tested and started deploying Automatic Train Protection System.
-  Major improvement in Version 4.0 includes increased Location Accuracy,  Improved  Information  of  Signal  Aspects  in  bigger  yard, Station  to  Station  Kavach  interface  on  OFC  and  Direct  Interface  to existing  Electronic  Interlocking  System.  With  these  improvements, Kavach  Ver.  4.0.  is  planned  for  large  scale  deployment  over  Indian Railways.
-  Progress of Key items comprising Kavach system on Indian Railways upto Feb' 2025 is as under: -
-  Next phase of Kavach implementation is planned as under:-
-  Project  for  equipping  10,000  Locomotives  has  been  finalized.  69 number  of  loco  sheds  have  been  prepared  for  equipping  with Kavach.
-  Bids for track side Works of Kavach for approximately 15,000 RKm have been invited covering all GQ, GD, HDN and identified sections
- of  Indian  Railways,  out  of  which  works  of  1865  RKm  have  been awarded.
-  Currently,  3  OEMs  are  approved  for  supply  of  Kavach  System.  To increase capacity and scale of implementation, trials and approval of more OEMs are at different stages.

| S.No.   | Items                                | Progress   |
|---------|--------------------------------------|------------|
| i       | Laying of Optical Fibre Cable        | 5743 Km    |
| ii      | Installation of Telecom Towers       | 540 Nos.   |
| iii     | Provision of Kavach at Stations      | 664 Nos.   |
| iv      | Provision of Kavach in Loco          | 795 Locos  |
| v       | Installation of Track side equipment | 3727 Rkm   |

Specialized  training  programme  on  Kavach  are  being  conducted  at centralized training institutes of Indian Railways to impart training to all concerned officials. By now more than 20,000 technicians, operators and engineers have been trained on Kavach technology. Courses have been designed in collaboration with IRISET.

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