Amid mounting criticism over the quality of coaches, the Indian Railways has announced new measures to address passenger complaints by promising to refurbish all air-conditioned (AC) coaches every six years, The New Indian Express has reported.
It has long been noticed that premier trains of the Indian Railways, whose fares are dynamically priced to respond to market demand, are running with AC coaches which have been around for more than a decade. Information from official sources has revealed that Southern Railway has more than 400 AC coaches which are more than a decade old out of the total of 1090 AC coaches that they maintain.
Towards controlling the costs for this exercise, the Railways have further proposed to cap the budget for refurbishments at Rs 10 lakhs per coach.
It has been further reported that in a bid to demonstrate their seriousness in rectifying coach conditions, the Southern Railways have begun upgrading coaches more than 6 years old and have also identified old coaches in high demand trains for upgradation.
It is expected that this measure by the Railways would go a long way in the vision to provide passengers with the best amenities and also increase ridership.
Comments ↓
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.
