Reservation For Garib Rath's AC Chair Car To Be Closed From Next Month: Report

There is important information for frequent travellers on the Garib Rath Express. Starting next month, there may be changes in the availability of AC Chair Car and Second AC options, when booking reservations for these trains. Indian Railways plans to modify the coach configurations of Garib Rath trains. Currently, there are 26 Garib Rath trains operating across approximately 52 routes. These trains run weekly or multiple times a week. The fare for travelling in Garib Rath trains is lower than that of Third AC and chair car in regular trains. It’s anticipated that the fare for Garib Rath coaches will remain approximately 8 to 10 percent less than that of Economy AC Third class.

These trains were started during the tenure of former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. It has been decided to replace their old coaches with LHB coaches, which will be replaced with newly designed economy AC coaches. AC economy coaches are being produced at Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala, Integral Coach Factory in Chennai and Modern Coach Factory in Raebareli. According to the Railway Ministry, the coaches of Garib Rath are about 18 years old. They were started in 2006. Since then, the coaches have undergone a lot of changes keeping in mind the facilities of the passengers, but the passengers travelling in these trains are not getting the facilities. Due to this, a decision has been taken to upgrade them.

According to the Railway Ministry, the old coaches include second AC, third AC and chair car. The new Garib Rath will have only third AC coaches. That means there will be no second AC and chair car. Since the booking starts 120 days in advance, it is likely that the booking of a second AC and chair car will be stopped in Garib Rath from next month. Since a large number of coaches will be needed for this change, the option of a second AC and chair car will be gradually stopped. AC Economy will have 81 seats, whereas the old coaches had 72 berths. Fireproof material will be used in the berths. Apart from this, there will be handles for hanging bottles, foldable snack tables, modern toilets and reading lights as well as USB charging points in all the berths.