Question : ATTACHMENT OF BOGIES IN PEAK SEASON

(a) whether the Railways have formulated any policy/norms for attaching general bogies to mail/express and passenger trains and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the Railways are aware of the overcrowding of compartments particularly general compartments during the seasonal and festival periods;

(c) if so, the steps taken/proposed to be taken in peak season and festivals;

(d) whether the Railways are considering to introduce more trains for Nashik in Maharashtra in view of passenger rush and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Railways to increase the number of general bogies in the said trains for providing more seats to general public?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) Yes, Madam. Indian Railways, as a matter of policy, have decided that all the Mail/ Express trains (except fully reserved trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, etc.) introduced after 2007-08 shall have at least 6 General Class coaches in their standard composition, subject to operational feasibility and availability of resources.

(b) & (c) In order to clear extra rush of passengers during festive season, vacations, religious congregations (like Kumbh, Ardh Kumbh, Sabrimala, Urs, etc.), melas, etc., Indian Railways to the extent feasible and justified, not only operate special trains but also augment the loads of existing trains to create extra accommodation for travelling passengers. With this end in view, Indian Railways operated 34,560 trips of special trains and utilized 1,13,769 coach trips, during the year 2014-15 (up to December 2015). Besides, this is an on-going process on Indian Railways.

(d) & (e) To provide additional services to passengers of Nasik, five pairs of trains serving Nasik Road station have been announced in the Railway Budget 2014-15, with six General class coaches in their scheduled composition. Further, augmentation of trains including that with General Class coaches is an on-going process on Indian Railways.