No more waiting for the hassle of waiting lists! Railway Minister says – all passengers will get confirmed tickets.
New Delhi, 23rd April 2024: Many people who travel by train often face difficulties in getting confirmed tickets. Complaints about this issue are frequently seen on social media platforms. Sometimes, even after booking tickets well in advance, passengers end up with waitlisted tickets.
However, the government is now working towards resolving this issue once and for all. Minister of Railways and Electronics & Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, has stated that in the next five years, almost all passengers will be able to get confirmed tickets. He mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wishes for every train traveler to get a confirmed ticket. The Union Minister of Railways, in an interview with the news agency IANS, said that in the next five years, the capacity of the railways will be significantly increased, making it easier for anyone who wishes to travel by train to get a confirmed ticket. He also mentioned that the pace of development in the railways has accelerated over the past decade.
Illustrating this point, Vaishnaw shared that between 2004 and 2014, only 17,000 kilometers of railway tracks were constructed. In contrast, from 2014 to 2024, 31,000 kilometers of new tracks were built. Between 2004 and 2014, electrification of approximately 5,000 kilometers of rail routes was done, while in the last 10 years, 44,000 kilometers of railway tracks have been electrified. Moreover, from 2004 to 2014, only 32,000 coaches were manufactured, whereas in the last decade, 54,000 coaches have been produced. Railway Minister Vaishnaw informed that significant progress has been made in the construction of stations for the country’s first bullet train. A section of the first bullet train is set to operate by 2026. He mentioned that work on the bullet train project on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai route is progressing very well. For this project, work on over 290 kilometers has already been completed. Bridges have been constructed over eight rivers for this project. Work is underway at 12 stations and several stations are nearing completion. The work for the operation of the bullet train is progressing rapidly and it is expected to commence by 2026.