200 Amrit Bharat non-AC trains in production to cater to demand

After rolling out two modern non-AC Amrit Bharat trains, Indian Railways has started the production for 200 more such trains to ensure comfort of passengers in the segment.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that production of 50 such trains is already at an advance stage while 150 more are in the pipeline.

A 22-coach Amrit Bharat train consists of 11 sleeper and 11 non-reserved coaches to cater to the demand of people from lower, lower middle and middle class that is responsible for over 95% passenger traffic of the Indian Railways. The passenger traffic of AC segment is around 5%.  There has been growing demand for non-AC segment among common people.

“Our priority is people in the lower, lower middle, and middle class as they account for major chunk of our passenger segment. We are focused to cater to them and ensure their comfort,” the minister said.

In December 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off two Amrit Bharat trains from Malda and Darbhanga. The Amrit Bharat trains, featuring LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) push-pull technology, have locomotives at both ends for improved acceleration.

The Minister further said that about 2,500 new general passenger coaches are being manufactured and another 10,000 coaches are likely to be added by FY25 to meet rising demand.

Opposition parties have flagged concerns regarding government reducing the production of general coaches at a cost of increasing production of Vande Bharat AC trains.

As per the railway ministry plan, the aim is to produce 4,485 non-AC coaches in FY25 and an additional 5,444 in FY26. The Railways also plans to roll out over 5,300 general coaches.