Lately, social media has been flooded with videos of people travelling in overcrowded sleepers and 3rd AC coaches. Those who are acquainted with train travel in India know that while people with waitlisted or general tickets are allowed to travel in sleeper classes, their entry was not allowed in the 3rd AC. However, now even 2nd AC premium seats are not spared and waitlisted people are seen travelling in the coach. The situation has become so grim that those with confirmed seats faced difficulty in getting or using their berths. People who faced difficulty despite paying for 3rd or 2nd AC raised the issue on social media. The condition is worse in sleeper and general classes where people are seen travelling stuffed in toilets and walking bays, leaving no space for any movement. In 2016, then Railways minister Suresh Prabhu had dreamt of ensuring confirmed tickets to every passenger by 2020. Four years later from the said deadline, even those with confirmed tickets are struggling to get their berths in 2024. 

Indian PM (1/3)

Narendra Modi failed in

One Nation One Election

but

Indian Railway Minister

Ashwini Vaishnav succeeded in

One Train One Compartment

Now

1st AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC, General, Inside of Train, Outside of Train,

All feels the same. pic.twitter.com/QrTMgXYAqd

— Schrodinger Ka Billa (@EducatedBilla) June 12, 2024

When the issue was brought to the notice of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he directed the authorities to take suitable steps to curb the entry of passengers with unconfirmed tickets in reserved coaches. The Zonal railways were directed to launch drives involving the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police Force to ensure only passengers with confirmed tickets travelled in the reserved coaches. While the Indian Railways runs multiple special and clone trains to mitigate seasonal rush, the overcrowding of trains has become a new normal due to multiple reasons. 

Sir Train No. 15120 from dehradun to Banaras. Coach no M1 (3rd AC)

This is the condition of third AC what will be the condition in sleeper coach can you imagine? Please take action on this with immediate effect. Feeling no use of taking reservation tkt. @RailMinIndia @NWRailways pic.twitter.com/19WEWBtkCZ
— Rajat Dadhich (@rajatsharmararo) June 14, 2024

However, this did not go well with the Congress party. “These unreserved people who enter the reserved compartment do not travel by in the toilet on their own will. The government has converted sleeper and second-class coaches into AC coaches. People do not have enough money to travel in AC. Along with this, the number of passenger trains has also been reduced. Don’t use force on people and instead correct your mistake,” said Congress to Vaishnaw.

ये कोई 3rd या 2nd AC नही है ये first एसी कोच है पूर्वा एक्सप्रेस का, (जनरल व sleeper में waiting) वालो ने इसे भी नही छोड़ा जो फर्स्ट ac का पैसा देकर यात्रा कर रहे है कैसे आयेगे जायेगे आप ही बताए??

जनरल व स्लीपर के डिब्बे में जो 50% कटौती की गई है, उसका असर हर क्लास के यात्रियों… pic.twitter.com/Zm2qdn9QNx
— M.M. Dhera(Attorney at Law) (@AdvocateDhera) May 30, 2024

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also posed serious questions to the Railways and the government. “Why has travelling by train in the normal Sleeper Class become very expensive? Why has the number of Sleeper Coaches been reduced? Last year 2.7 crore people had to cancel their tickets due to acute shortage of seats – a direct result of the Modi government’s policy of reducing the number of coaches,” said Kharge.

जब भी कोई रेल हादसा होता है, मौजूदा रेल मंत्री जी कैमरों से लैस घटनास्थल पर पहुँच कर ऐसा व्यवहार करते हैं जैसे सब कुछ ठीक हो गया हो। @narendramodi जी, बताइये किसकी जवाबदेही तय होनी चाहिए, रेल मंत्री की या आपकी?

हमारे 7 प्रश्न हैं – जिनका जवाब मोदी सरकार को देना पड़ेगा !…
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 18, 2024

Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared that the number of trains needs to increase by 3,000 every day to accommodate waitlisted passengers. However, that would be possible only by 2032 when the railways would be able to upgrade their infrastructure and put extra lines on their map. 

So till then, if you are travelling on a train with an unconfirmed ticket, then you might get deboarded by the security officials.