Railways to run 9,600 additional trips this summer, ensure 7 lakh more seats

The Indian Railways has decided to run 9,600 additional train trips this summer, providing seven lakh more seats to passengers travelling to various destinations.

This was done to compensate for the increase in demand during the holiday season. Over 50% of the trips will be made in northern India, considering that the demand is more in this part of the country.

“We have already notified 8,148 of the 9,600 trips we are going to offer during the summer,” said Mohammed Jamshed, member (traffic) of the railway board.

The Northern Railway, for its part, will enhance accommodation in trains by over 3.88 lakh berths/seats between April and June. “This will be done by attaching 124 additional coaches to 62 regular trains. They will make a total of 5,132 trips, thereby carrying 3,88,632 more people during the holiday season,” a Northern Railway spokesperson said.

Another official said the provision for additional seats across the entire railway network could be made only through advance planning and coordination between various departments. “We had to schedule the periodic overhaul of coaches in a manner that allowed them to be put into service for the summer rush as soon as they were released from workshops. Also, there are railway coaches of various kinds meant for specific types of trains. We had to ensure that the right kinds of additional coaches were made available, so they could be attached to their corresponding trains,” he added.

Officials hope this arrangement will help them increase the overall revenue of the Railways.

“However, efforts like these receive a setback when some coaches develop problems before or during the train journey. For passenger convenience and safety, we will ensure that such coaches are removed from the train and only those fit for the journey are made available,” the spokesperson said.