Railway News : Number of senior citizens travelling by train
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3765
TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.12.2024
NUMBER OF SENIOR CITIZENS TRAVELLING BY TRAIN
3765. MS SAYANI GHOSH:
Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) the proportion of senior citizen passengers out of total passengers travelling by train in the country;
(b) the facilities and concessions currently available to senior citizen passengers during train travel;
(c) the steps taken by the Government to provide amenities like wheelchair and ramps at railway stations for ease of travel; and
(d) whether there is a dedicated fund or focus on the same, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND
ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)
(a) to (d) During the financial year 2024-25 (upto November, 2024), approximately 488 crore passengers of all ages (including senior citizens) travelled both in reserved and unreserved classes.
Indian Railways continuously strive to provide various facilities for the convenience of passengers including senior citizens. Some of the facilities extended to senior citizens are as under:-
(i) Allotment of lower berths to Senior Citizens, Female passengers of 45 years and above automatically, even if no choice is given, subject to availability.
(ii) Earmarking of a combined quota of six to seven lower berths per coach in Sleeper class, four to five lower berths per coach each in Air Conditioned 3 tier (3AC) and three to four lower berths per coach in Air Conditioned 2 tier (2AC) classes (depending on the number of coaches of that class in the train) for senior citizens, female passengers 45 years of age and above and pregnant women.
(iii) Earmarking of unreserved accommodation for senior citizens in the local train services on suburban sections of Zonal Railways.
(iv) Allotment of lower berths falling vacant in the train to senior citizens, Persons with Disabilities or pregnant women (who have been allotted middle/upper berth) on priority.
(v) Earmarking of separate counters at various Passenger Reservation System (PRS) centres of Indian Railways, keeping in view the demand pattern.
(vi) Provision of wheel chairs at stations.
(vii) Provision of Battery Operated Vehicles (BOVs) at some stations for Senior Citizens, Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjans), sick passengers and pregnant women.
(viii) Provision of ramps, lifts, escalators, signages, May I Help Booths, etc. at various stations.
Apart from above, Indian Railways continuously envisages improvement of amenities for passengers with reduced mobility through provision of ramps, accessible parking, lifts, escalators among others.
The provision/upgradation of various passenger amenities at stations including the amenities for senior citizens is a continuous and ongoing process. Works in this regard are undertaken as per requirement and availability of funds under Plan Head-53 which includes passenger amenities works. A total allocation of ₹15,510.75 crore has been made under Plan Head-53 for the current financial year.
Indian Railways strives to provide affordable services to all strata of the society and gave subsidy of ₹56,993 crore on passenger tickets in 2022-23. This amounts to concession of 46% on an average, to every person, travelling on Railways. In other words for easier understanding, if the cost of providing service is ₹100, then the price of ticket is ₹54 only. This subsidy is continuing for all passengers. Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories like 4 categories of Persons with disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients and 8 categories of students.
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