Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the national carrier will soon standardise the number of coaches in trains to 22 or less, Mint has reported.

“We have formed a committee to suggest standard number of coaches for all trains. We should keep it 22 or less. Once we have standard numbers, we can run more trains and bring back the good rail experience,” he was quoted as saying.

At present, the number of coaches in a train varies from 12 to 28. The number depends on the number of trains on a route, rush, the number of commuters, length of platforms and where the train would start and halt, etc.

According to a Railway official, when the number of coaches will be standardised, the Railways will be able to “press any train - which is ready, has arrived at the station and undergone maintenance - into operation, instead of waiting for the same train to get ready”. This would help the Railways run trains on time.

To meet this goal, Goyal has said, the Railways is willing to invest in the extra infrastructure. Regarding the budget, he said the Railways is looking to increase freight earnings to up its revenue.

Goyal also noted that the Railways is considering transferring research function from Lucknow-based research organization Research Designs and Standards Organisation to the new National Railway and Transportation University.