New Delhi. The government informed the Rajya Sabha last Friday that as per existing rules, waitlisted passengers are not authorized to travel in reserved compartments of trains. In a written reply to a question asked by Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, “The details of waitlisted passengers traveling in unreserved coaches or passengers found traveling unauthorized in reserved coaches are not maintained.” Singh had asked the minister to provide details of the total number of passengers in the country in the last three years who had to travel on waitlisted tickets due to non-availability of ‘confirmed’ tickets. Singh had also sought information about the efforts being made by the Railways for the convenience of waitlisted passengers.
Vaishnav said, “The status of waiting list of all trains operated under Indian Railways is monitored on a regular basis. To meet the additional demand, Indian Railways also operates special trains during festivals, holidays etc. and provides additional seats in trains, both permanent and temporary, including sleeper coaches, for various categories of passengers. “
He said, “Accordingly, during the Holi and summer holidays in the year 2024, special trains made 13,523 trips to transport the additional crowd of passengers to their destinations. “In view of the additional demand during Durga Puja/Diwali/Chhath, 7983 trips of special trains were notified during the period from October 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024 to transport about 1.8 crore passengers to their destinations.” According to the Railway Minister, during 2023-24, 872 coaches are to be used for increasing train services on a permanent basis, while during 2024-25 (till October, 2024), 664 coaches are to be used for capacity addition on a permanent basis. Has been done.