Lok Sabha Question No. 2986 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-17
Subject: Unreserved Train Coaches for Tamil Nadu
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Dr. Ganapathy Rajkumar P

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2986 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2025

## UNRESERVED TRAIN COACHES FOR TAMIL NADU

2986. DR. GANAPATHY RAJKUMAR P:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Sothern  Railways  will  consider  favorably  to  attach  more unreserved  coaches  in  all  trains  within  Tamil  Nadu  due  to  increase  of passenger  traffic  day  by  day  at  major  railway  stations  including  Chennai, Trichay, Madurai and Coimbatore and the total passenger traffic expected to be 77.41 crore during the current financial year, the Southern Railway is at the forefront of running trains without any delays in the country; and

(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

## (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

(a) & (b) As the Railway network straddles across state boundaries, trains are operated/augmented,  as  per  network  requirement,  across  such  boundaries. With  a  view  to  meet  the  demand  of  passengers  travelling  in  unreserved coaches,  Railways  have  significantly  increased  the  facilities  for  passengers demanding general class travel. During the last financial year 2024-25 alone, 1250  general  coaches  have  been  utilised  in  various  long-distance  trains including those catering to Tamil Nadu area.

To cater to the travel demand of the low and middle income families, Indian Railways have taken up 17,000 non-AC coaches (general/sleeper). On IR, the percentage of non-AC coaches, is about 70% as indicated below:

Table 1: Distribution of coaches:

| Non-AC coaches (general and sleeper)   | ~57,200   | ~70%   |
|----------------------------------------|-----------|--------|
| AC coaches                             | ~25,000   | ~30%   |
| Total coaches                          | ~82,200   | 100%   |

Due  to  higher  availability  of  general  coaches,  the  number  of  passengers traveling  in  general/  unreserved  coaches  has  shown  an  increasing  trend  as shown below:

Table 2: Passengers in general/unreserved coaches:

| Year    | No. of Passengers   |
|---------|---------------------|
| 2020-21 | 99 Cr (Covid year)  |
| 2021-22 | 275 Cr (Covid year) |
| 2022-23 | 553 Cr              |
| 2023-24 | 609 Cr              |
| 2024-25 | 651 Cr              |

The number of seats available for non-AC passengers has also increased. The current composition is as follows:

Table 3: Distribution of seats:

| Non-AC seats   | ~ 54 lakhs   | ~ 78%   |
|----------------|--------------|---------|
| AC seats       | ~ 15 lakhs   | ~ 22%   |
| Total          | ~ 69 lakhs   | 100%    |

To provide greater accommodation for the passengers using General and nonAC 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.

Further, to provide affordable means of transportation to the low- and middleincome families, Indian Railways have introduced Amrit Bharat services that are  fully  non-AC  modern  trains.  As  on  3.11.2025,  30  services  are  already  in operation.  The  present    composition  of  Amrit  Bharat  consists  of  11  General Class coaches, 8 Sleeper Class coaches, 01 Pantry Car and 02 Luggage cum Divyangjan coaches.

Besides,  in  its  constant  endeavour  to  provide  additional  accommodation  to travelling  passengers,  Indian  Railways  (IR),  operates  Special  train  services during festivals, holidays, etc. to cater to the extra needs of passengers and supplement the accommodation  available  by  regular  services.  In  addition  to the  above,  the  load  of  trains  are  also  augmented,  both  on  a  permanent  and temporary basis, to generate additional accommodation for different segments of passengers.

Accordingly,  on  the  Indian  Railways(IR)  network,  during  Year  2025-26  (till November, 2025),  about  60,000  special  trains  have  been  operated  and  more than 700 coaches have been utilized for augmentation of train services on a permanent  basis.

Chennai is served  by  160  train  services  while  Tiruchchirappalli  is  served  by 155 train services. Similarly, Madurai and Coimbatore are served by 116 and 168 train services respectively.

Indian  Railways(IR),  during  2025-26  (upto  November  2025),  have  introduced more  than  200  train  services  of  which  12  train  services  including  16601/02 Erode-Jogbani Amrit Bharat Express caters to the needs of stations located in the State of Tamil Nadu.

To cater to the needs of the passengers, 364 services have been standardized in Southern Railway by augmenting with 4 un-reserved class coaches in each rake.  Further,  Southern  Railway  has  operated  162  special  services  having unreserved class coaches as well. In addition, 219 unreserved class coaches have been augmented on temporary basis by Southern Railway and 11 General Class coaches have also been augmented on permanent basis .

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