Image Source : AP 200 new Vande Bharat Express in next 3 years.
After the budget 2025 presentation, the Indian Railways (IR) has announced plans to manufacture 17,500 Non-AC General and Sleeper Coaches to enhance the rail connectivity across the country. The move from the Centre will help in accommodating the growing demand for affordable travel.
The step from the Indian Railways will improve the travel experience for low-income passengers while addressing the increasing pressure on railway infrastructure.
Last week, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated that Indian Railways would maintain a 2:3 ratio for non-AC coaches and 1:3 for AC coaches. He said the national transporter has initiated a special manufacturing program to increase the availability of general coaches across the country.
Ashwini Vaishnaw also said the Budget 2025-26 maintained the government’s continuous push to improve Railways by allocating Rs 2.52 lakh crore to it and approving projects such as manufacturing 17,500 general coaches, 200 Vande Bharat and 100 Amrit Bharat trains, among others.
“New projects worth Rs 4.6 lakh crore have been included in the budget which will be completed in four to five years. These are related to laying of new lines, doubling, quadrupling, new constructions, station redevelopment, flyover, under-passes among many others,” the Railway minister told reporters at Rail Bhawan.
He added that 100 Amrit Bharat, 50 Namo Bharat and 200 Vande Bharat — both sleepers as well as chair car variants — will be manufactured in the next two to three years. “With new Amrit Bharat trains, we will connect many more short-distance cities.”
Regarding general coaches, Vaishnaw said 17,500 such coaches have been approved for manufacturing in the coming years.
“The manufacturing of general coaches is already going on and 1400 such coaches will be manufactured by the end of March 31. In FY 2025-26, our target is to manufacture 2,000 general coaches. Besides, 1,000 new flyovers have been approved for construction,” Vaishnaw said.
“Another big milestone which the Railways is going to achieve by March 31 is regarding our cargo carrying capacity. We will achieve the target of carrying 1. 6 billion tonnes of cargo by March 31 to become the second largest cargo-carrying railways in the world after China.”
The minister also announced, “We are going to achieve 100 per cent electrification by the end of this financial year.” Highlighting the government’s focus on investment in the safety of rail operation, Vaishnaw said the allocation for it has been increased from Rs 1.08 lakh crore to Rs 1.14 lakh crore. In the next financial year, it will be further enhanced to Rs 1.16 lakh crore.”
