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People oppose replacing general class coaches with AC coaches

Hyderabad: The South Central Railway (SCR) is facing a backlash from passengers coming from economically weaker sections for replacing general class coaches with air-conditioned (AC) coaches to address rising demand for premium travel.

The SCR has released details of temporary augmentation of two trains and replacement of nine trains to address passenger demand.

K. Venkatesham, who regularly travels by train, said, “Railways is reducing the number of general class coaches; there must be at least five general compartments in every train. It has to increase the coaches of general and sleeper compartments.”

S. Shekar Reddy, who travels to Tirupati regularly, said, “If they remove the general coaches the problem will increase, with no alternatives people will enter the reserved coaches.”

“Many passengers prefer general class due to its affordability, especially during festival seasons when buses and private vehicles become expensive or unavailable. Replacing general coaches with AC coaches raises costs, making travel unaffordable for economically weaker sections,” said P. Sarika.

A general class coach has a capacity of 82 to 100 passengers. If two general coaches are replaced by AC coaches, around 5,000 to 6,000 passengers will be affected for each train in a month. If a person travels from Hyderabad to Tirupati in general class. the ticket price will be around `455 and in 3rd AC the price will be up to `2,195.

SCR officials, however, stated that the replacement is a temporary measure because of several reasons. We have noticed the waiting list demand is high and accordingly we are replacing some coaches to accommodate the demand. There is also a huge demand for second and third AC coaches, the fares will be applied according to the replaced coach.

They added that each train will definitely have mandatory two general coaches.

Temporary additions/replacements in January

Additions

1. Train No. 17614 and 17613 Nanded - Panvel Express: Added one 3rd AC and one sleeper

2. Train No. 17630 and 17629 Nanded - Pune Express: Added One 3rd AC and one sleeper

Replacements

1. Train No. 12702 and 12701 Hyderabad to Mumbai CSMT will replace two general second class coaches with two third AC coaches.

2. Train No. 12707 and 12708 Tirupati to H.Nizamuddin will replace two General Second Class coaches with two Sleeper coaches.

3. Train No. 12715 and 12716 Nanded to Amritsar will replace two General Second Class coaches with one Third AC and one Sleeper coach.

4. Train No. 12720 and 12719 Hyderabad to Jaipur will replace twp General Second Class coaches with two Third AC coaches .

5. Train No. 12728 and 12727 Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam will replace two General Second Class coaches with one Third AC and one Sleeper coach.

6. Train No. 12760 and 12759 Hyderabad to Tambaram will replace two General Second Class coaches with two Sleeper coaches.

7. Train No. 12793 and 12794 Tirupati to H. Nizamuddin, will replace two General Second Class coaches with two Sleeper coaches.

8. Train No. 22737 and 22738 Secunderabad to Hisar will replace two General Second Class coaches with one Second AC and one Sleeper coach.


( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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