III-tier air-conditioned bookings double in 5 years

The number of passengers travelling by III-tier air-conditioned coaches in Western Railways long-distance trains has doubled to 20,000 per day in the past five years. To meet this demand, WR has so far attached 120 additional coaches to various trains, which is a 71% increase as compared to 2007-08.

The demand for III-tier AC coaches is so huge that WR had added almost 600 coaches to long-distance trains on a temporary basis between June and August 2012. A single such coach in the old Integral Coach Factory (ICF) rakes can carry 64 passengers, while those in the new Linke-Hofmann Busch (LHB) rakes, manufactured by the Rail Coach Factory, can carry 72.

Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relations officer, WR said, “We have added 30 III-tier AC coaches in the current year in popular and premier trains like the August Kranti Rajdhani Express, Gujarat Mail, Avantika Express and Vadodara Express. This has resulted in a 12% increase in passengers in III-tier AC coaches.”

The highest growth was witnessed in 2008-09, when the number of passengers in such coaches rose by 23%, from 10,031 to 12,296. The demand for such coaches is huge as passengers consider travelling by these value for money. The popularity of berths in this category is so huge that WR has had to replace sleeper class coaches with III-tier ones in some trains, he added.

Chandrayan said, “We are going to attach an additional coach to the Golden Temple Mail and Paschim express from January 1, 2013 on a permanent basis. Reservation for these trains will start from September 1.” Railway authorities have attributed the increase in demand for these coaches to affordable rates, increase in purchasing power of the middle class and extreme climate in the country, which makes travel by this category of coaches comfortable.

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