Indian Railways expands fleet with 2,500 new coaches and approval for 10,000 more: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday apprised about a special drive in which around 2,500 new general passenger train coaches are being manufactured and approval has been granted for manufacturing another 10,000 such coaches.

The initiative by the central government, he said, focuses on augmenting railway infrastructure across the country.

Talking to reporters here in the national capital on the sidelines of an event, the Union Minister said that manufacturing of another 50 Amrit Bharat trains has started. Last year, two such trains were flagged off from Maldah and Darbhanga by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister flagged off two new Amrit Bharat trains -- Darbhanga-Ayodhya-Anand Vihar Terminal Amrit Bharat Express and Malda Town-Sir M. Visvesvaraya Terminus (Bengaluru) Amrit Bharat Express in December 2023.

The process for manufacturing another 150 such Amrit Bharat trains has started, he said.

The Amrit Bharat train is an LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch) push-pull train, which has locomotives at both ends for better acceleration.

He further said over 10,000 special trains were run across the country to ease the summer rush this year. "Services, safety, and cleanliness have been focused properly," the minister said.

Speaking about railway infrastructure, he said railway tracks to the tune of 5,300 kms were added last. So far this year, about 800 kms have been added.

The rollout of Kavach system is also progressing at a rapid pace, he asserted.Kavach is a technology-intensive system that aids the loco pilot in the train running within specified speed limits by automatic application of brakes in case the Loco Pilot fails to do so and also helps the train safely run during inclement weather.

The first field trials on the passenger trains were started in February 2016.

There was much debate around the anti-collision system in light of the horrific triple-train accident in Odisha's Balasore on June 2 last year, which claimed the lives of close to 300 passengers while leaving about 1,000 injured.

Vaishnaw also targeted the Opposition in what he said that they demotivated the 12 lakh-strong Railway employees.

"They are circulating old videos and campaigning against the employees. Small problems are being amplified by them. I can tell you today that our railway employees will derail their (Opposition's) narratives."