Big relief for Indian Railways passengers! Special ‘clone’ trains soon for waitlisted passengers

In what comes as a relief for Indian Railways passengers, the Indian Railways is planning to run special ‘clone’ trains on busy routes. This will benefit those who fail to book a confirmed birth on a train. These clone trains will be started in a phased manner in the next 15 days and the Railways will issue a notification regarding the same.

Railway board chairman and CEO YK Yadav at a press briefing said all trains currently in operation will be monitored to determine which trains have a long waiting time. He added clone trains will be run on routes or trains where there is heavy traffic and long waitlists. The clone will be run ahead of the actual train so that passengers can travel easily.

“Idea is to meet the demand for major stations so there will be fewer stoppages on these clone trains,” he said while adding that stoppages of the clone trains will be fewer than the special trains being run currently.

Clone trains will be run with the same number as the special train. To simplify, if a Rajdhani train is packed and then another in the same number will carry the additional passengers. The waitlisted passengers will be informed of their seat numbers soon after reservation charts of the original are drawn up four hours before the departure.

However, it will be interesting to see how the Indian Railways manages to implement the new method. 

Meanwhile, the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said the Railways will provide safe, swift, punctual and cost-effective solutions to the customers and for this, there is a need for partners. Piyush Goyal, speaking at a programme said "We want to provide safe, swift, punctual, and cost-effective solutions to our customers. For that, I am open to ideas from the partners. Atmanirbhar Railway needs Atmanirbhar partners."

The Minister said we are looking at the mindset of the Railways, we are looking at what needs to change. Railways have embarked on engaging more with technology, trying and leveraging public-private partnerships to make the overall effort to invest over half a trillion dollars in making Indian Railways truly world-class, truly safe to travel with, comfortable and efficient, said Goyal.