Rail Minister plans trains by size of passengers’ pockets

(L to R) Gopal Shetty, Diwakar Raote, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Minister of Railways and Sunil Kumar Sood, general manager, Central Railway, seen at the unveiling of the plaque of dedication of DC-AC conversion on Harbour and Transharbour line. (Photo: Debasish Dey)

The Railways is thinking of bringing prestigious trains on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Pune route. Tejas, a luxurious train designed to cater to high-income passengers, will ensure that the patronage of these routes stay loyal to the railways, said Union minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday.

Speaking at an event in Bandra the minister said that there are three categories of the types of trains or services being planned by the railway, the first is the Tejas the second is the Hamasafar which is aimed at mid-income level passengers and the third Udai, an overnight trains similar to the Mumbai-Nagpur. Along with these, there would be a fourth category that will have an unreserved overnight train for the low-income bracket, said the Union minister.

“These trains will be specifically designed and we are already in talks with some private manufactureres. We will have a concrete plan on this soon,” said Mr Prabhu.

The minister also said that they are planning to add two extra bogies to the most frequented trains between Mumbai and metros, like, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai.

“We have also recently introduced the concept of clone trains. Using this facility, passengers whose tickets remain not confirmed before the travel date, will get to travel in an alternate train on the same route within 24-hours,” said Mr Prabhu. He further added, “Now we are trying to plan logistics in such a way that we can add two extra coaches to trains that have a high passenger count.”