New Delhi : Indian Railway keeps taking new steps keeping in mind the facilities of the passengers. This time the railways want to allow common citizens to travel in AC coaches at low fares. For this, the Railways has prepared a plan to convert sleeper and unreserved category coaches into AC coaches. According to media reports, the Railways is planning to bring AC trains across the country through it, which will provide better travel facilities for the passengers at a lower cost. According to the information received from the officials, the upgraded sleeper coach will be called the Economic AC 3-tier.
AC 3-tier will have 83 berths instead of 72 berths
According to the news published in a newspaper, the train coach factory Kapurthala has been tasked to convert the sleeper coach into AC coach. Sources told the newspaper that these new Economic AC 3-tiers will have 83 berths instead of 72 berths. Initially, these coaches will also be called AC-3 Tier Tourist Class. It is being told that the fare of these trains will also be cheaper so that the common traveler can travel in it. In the first phase, 230 such coaches will be produced.
According to information received from sources in the newspaper, the estimated cost of making each coach will be Rs 2.8 to 3 crores, which is 10 percent more than the cost of making AC 3-tier. However, due to higher berths and demand, Railways are expecting good earnings from the Economic AC 3-tier. Apart from this, unreserved general class coaches will also be converted into 100-seat AC coaches. Designs are being finalized for these.
During 2004–09, during the UPA-I government, a plan was prepared to prepare economic AC 3-tier class coaches. At the same time Garib Rath Express trains were launched, which were called AC Economy Class. However, the passengers talked about trouble during the journey. Simultaneously, a congested situation started on the train. Later production of such coaches was stopped.