INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: Indian Railways has set its sight on running 3,000 additional mail, express and passenger trains on its network in the next 4-5
years to tackle the perennial problem of wait-listed tickets
Currently, around 800 crore passenger trips are undertaken annually and this is likely to touch 1,000 crore in the next five years, which
will require massive expansion.Currently, it operates 10,748 mail, express and passenger compared to 10,186 before the Covid-19
pandemic.Officials said the plan to add more trains and augment track capacity is aimed at ensuring every passenger gets a confirmed ticket
when they book a journey by 2027-28.Top railway ministry officials said the plan has been prepared considering the rise in passenger demand
They added that steps also are being taken to introduce more push-pull trains that can accelerate and decelerate fast and reduce travel time
on long routes by 2-5 hours.Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the transporter will continue to introduce more Vande Bharat trains,
modern LHB coaches and push-pull trains while annually around 4,000-5,000 km of new track will be laid as well to meet the requirement of
said.Currently, about 5,000 LHB coaches, equivalent to 225 trains, are being manufactured annually
focuses will be on introducing more push-pull trains, which have locos on both ends, on long routes
Our analysis shows that running such trains on the Delhi-Kolkata route can cut down travel time by 2-2.5 hours
push-pull trains could be 10-15% more than other mail, express trains.Meanwhile, officials said that during the current festival season, the
railways has operated 2,423 trips of special trains since October 1, carrying 36 lakh passengers
