Lower berths on trains will no longer be easily available to everyone; major change in Indian railways regarding seat allocation

NEW DELHI: This is a time of change in Indian Railways. Many changes are coming into effect, including in train travel and infrastructure. Now, the latest decision has been made regarding lower berths in sleeper and AC coaches in trains. An important change has been made in the seat allocation for passengers. In coaches with the facility to travel in bed, lower berths are always in high demand.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha that Indian Railways has increased the allocation of lower berths for senior citizens, women and the disabled, keeping in mind the comfort and convenience of passengers. The new solution has been decided considering the difficulty of these categories to board the upper berth and middle berth.

Indian Railways is introducing an automatic system for seat allocation. Women above 45 years of age and senior citizens (males above 60 years and females above 58 years) will be given lower berths, subject to availability, even if they do not request it at the time of booking. In case lower berths become vacant during the journey, priority will be given to senior citizens, disabled persons and pregnant women.

The number of lower berths proposed to be set aside in various compartments as part of the automatic system is as follows:

Sleeper: Six to Seven

Third AC: Four to Five

Second AC: Three to Four