Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday informed that the national transporter has planned to manufacture 10,000 non-AC coaches in the next two years.

Addressing the gathering during MoU signing ceremony in Rail Bhavan here, he reiterated that Indian Railways remains committed to provide affordable rail travel to poor, lower middle and middle class.

He also appealed to 12 lakh railway men across the country to work with dedication and keep their morale high.

Also, the minister urged railway men to work collectively and ensure that people’s faith on railways remain steadfast.

Vaishnaw informed 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 Union government, the minister said, focuses on augmenting railway infrastructure across the country.

Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of the event, the Union Minister said manufacturing of another 50 Amrit Bharat trains has started.

Last year, two such trains were flagged off from Malda 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, Vaishnaw 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 the 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.