General class bogies without AC in trains will soon become a matter of history. Because the Ministry of Railways is going to convert the general coach i.e. sleeper into an air-conditioned vehicle to make long distance travel easier.
If you travel by general class in the train, then there is good news for you. Now the Railways is preparing to install AC in the general class also. With AC, your journey will be easy. Till now there was a lot of problem due to the crowd in the general class. But, after the AC is installed, people will get a lot of relief from it. It may start from next month. However, it has not yet been told by the Railways on which route it will start. Gradually, the general coaches of all trains will be converted into AC coaches.
These new economy AC coaches will run at a speed of 180 kilometers per hour on new tracks, adopting modern technology. Now the same speed and AC facility will also be available in second class general coach.
Will start from next month
As soon as he took over as the Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnav had resolved to make rail travel more popular and enjoyable by increasing the facilities for the passengers. In this regard, these steps have been taken. It is expected that it will start from next month. At present, about 100 passengers can sit in the general second class coach. The cost of making these coaches comes to around Rs 2.24 crore per coach. At the same time, more passengers will be able to sit in the new general second class coach. The new coaches will be able to run at a speed of up to 130 kilometers per hour. Whereas the old speed non-AC coaches can run at a maximum speed of 110 kmph.
Price is also pocket friendly
According to Railway Ministry sources, the work on this ambitious project has progressed. Traveling in these coaches will be cheaper. This will make the journey easier for those passengers who cannot afford expensive tickets to travel in air-conditioned vehicles. That is, by paying the fare like the first poor chariot, they can travel like a general coach. According to ministry sources, these coaches will have a seating capacity of one hundred and one hundred and twenty five passengers. Fully-reserved seat compartments will be equipped with sensor-operated automatic opening and closing doors. From First AC to General Class AC, these coaches are being made at the Railway Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Punjab.
AC will feel like in general class
Apart from premier trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat, the unreserved coaches used before the Kovid crisis in other trains will now be equipped with reservation and AC service so that common rail passengers can travel comfortably in any weather without lightening their pockets. Recently, Railways started traveling in economy class with three tier AC facility. Now AC travel can be done by reserving tickets in general class also.
Railways had introduced Deen Dayalu coach for unreserved class passengers by upgrading the general second class coach in 2016, about five years ago. Passengers in Deen Dayalu coach were provided with facilities like luggage rack, padded seats, coach hook, water filtration system with aqua guard style, bio toilet, more mobile charging points, toilet busy indicator, water level indicator. Now the railway department has progressed a few steps ahead of that.
