Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that Indian Railways will add 17000 non air conditioned general and sleeper coaches over the next five years. In a written reply in Lok Sabha on July 30, 2025, he said that this move aims to meet the growing demand for general class travel across the country.
At present, out of the total 82200 coaches, around 57200 are non AC coaches, making up nearly 70 percent of the total. The remaining 25000 coaches are air conditioned.
“Railways has significantly increased the facilities for passengers demanding general class travel. During the last financial year 2024 to 2025 alone, 1250 general coaches have been utilised in various long distance trains,” Vaishnaw stated.
He added that “over and above the current high share of non AC coaches, Railways is executing a special manufacturing programme for 17000 non AC general and sleeper coaches over the next five years.”
The increase in general coaches has also led to a rise in the number of passengers travelling in general and unreserved categories. From 2018 to 2025, Indian Railways carried a total of 4193 crore passengers. The average number of passenger trains running daily also increased from 13169 in 2019 to 13940 in 2025.
During the COVID affected years, 99 crore passengers travelled in 2020 and 275 crore in 2021. These numbers rose to 553 crore in 2022, 609 crore in 2023 and 651 crore in 2024 to 2025.
Of the current 69 lakh available seats, 54 lakh are in non AC coaches, making up 78 percent, while AC coaches offer 15 lakh seats or 22 percent.
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