132 Extra Coaches Added

Indian Railways has added 132 extra coaches to 104 trains as summer travel demand pushes many routes close to full. The extra coaches were announced by North Western Railway on April 24 and spread across 52 train pairs, with the aim of creating more berths and improving confirmation chances during the holiday rush. Central Railway added more relief on the same corridor pressure points, starting two one-way specials from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Kharagpur and Asansol from April 23. Bookings for both trains opened through regular reservation channels. Pune Division followed with two one-way “train on demand” services on April 24: one from Pune to Kharagpur and another from Hadapsar to Asansol. The services were announced on April 23 to handle the same summer spike in eastbound travel. The rush is not limited to a few trains. Indian Railways’ current booking pressure has remained high enough that general class occupancy was reported at about 92%, while sleeper class crossed 108%, meaning reserved sleeper demand was running above nominal capacity. That is why railways are adding coaches and one-off specials at the same time. Extra coaches raise capacity on trains already running, while special trains create entirely new departures on dates when regular services are saturated. The timing tracks the annual school-vacation and migrant-travel surge, when families, students, and workers all compete for long-distance seats at once. In that pattern, eastern routes from Mumbai and Pune often see heavy demand because they connect major industrial and migrant-worker corridors. For passengers, the immediate effect is simple: more coaches can improve confirmation odds, but the occupancy figures show the system is still running hot. Even after the latest additions, Indian Railways is managing a rush that has not yet eased.