Cheer for common man! Indian Railways to manufacture almost 10,000 non-AC coaches in 2 years to meet growing demand – Times of India

Indian Railways has approved a manufacturing plan for almost 10,000 non air-conditioned coaches in two years to meet the growing demand. Sources told TOI that Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw-led Indian Railways has approved a plan to manufacture 9,929 non-AC coaches in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Of these, 4,485 non-AC coaches will be manufactured in the ongoing financial year 2024-25 and next year, that is in 2025-26, another 5,444 such coaches will be rolled out.General seating coaches will have more than one-third share of the total number of coaches to be manufactured.
Recently, Indian Railways had introduced two new Amrit Bharat push pull trains with non-AC coaches for the common man. These new trains, with several passenger friendly features, were a faster travel option for budget travellers with the two locomotives at both ends ensuring speeds of up to 130 kmph.
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The national transporter has been introducing new trains for better passenger comfort – from Antyodaya and Deen Dayal to Tejas Express (AC chair car and sleeper), economy AC coaches and Humsafar Express.
Apart from the above, the national transporter is also shifting focus to manufacturing energy efficient train sets with faster acceleration and deceleration for speedier travel. After the Vande Bharat Express, Indian Railways is now manufacturing the Vande Metro for short-distance intercity travel and Vande Bharat sleeper trains for long-distance overnight premium travel.
As a part of its 100-day agenda for railways, Modi 3.0 government aims to roll out the first Vande Metro and Vande Bharat sleeper train prototypes for testing. While Vande Metro trains have been manufactured by RCF Kapurthala and ICF Chennai, the Vande Bharat sleeper is being manufactured by BEML. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had last month said that the Vande Bharat sleeper train should be ready to hit tracks for trials by August 15.