According to existing rules, waitlisted passengers are not permitted to travel in reserved train coaches, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

“The details of the waitlisted passengers who travelled in unreserved coaches or who were found travelling unauthorisedly in reserved coaches are not maintained,” Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply. He said this after MP Sanjay Singh raised questions.

Singh requested the minister to provide details on the total number of passengers in the country over the past three years who traveled with waitlisted tickets due to a lack of confirmed tickets. He also inquired about the measures being taken by the railways to enhance the convenience of waitlisted passengers.

Vaishnaw said that the waiting list position of all the trains is monitored on a regular basis.

“In order to cater to additional demand, Indian Railways also operates special train services during festivals, holidays etc and augments the load of trains to generate additional accommodation for different segments of passengers, including that with sleeper class coaches, both on permanent and temporary basis,” he added.

He further informed that during the year 2024, 13,523 trips of special trains were operated for the extra rush of passengers during Holi and summer vacation. To manage the rush during Durga Pooja/Dipawali/Chhath, “7983 trips of special trains have also been notified during the period October 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024 to serve approximately 1.8 crore passengers”, he said.

The railway minister stated that 872 coaches were permanently added to train services during 2023-24. Additionally, 664 coaches have been utilised for permanent augmentation in the current financial year 2024-25, up to October 2024.

Highlighting initiatives like the Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme (VIKALP) and Upgradation, Vaishnaw explained that under VIKALP, eligible passengers who opt for the scheme are provided confirmed accommodation in alternate trains.

“In upgradation scheme, waiting list passengers of lower class are provided confirmed accommodation in the higher class if there is a vacant accommodation in higher class at the time of charting,” the railway minister said. 

(With PTI inputs)