The surge in the preference for general and sleeper classes marks a significant increase in the dynamics of travellers travelling in trains. In Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) a noteworthy shift in passenger preferences has been noticed. About 90.01% of passengers chose general and sleeper classes, while 9.82% opted for AC classes and 0.17% passengers travelled in First Class between April and October, 2023.

During the current year 5.64 crores passengers travelled in general and sleeper coaches in comparison to last year total number of 5.41 crores passengers. This leads to 0.23 crores additional passengers travelled in Non – AC coaches during this year. During the current year a total of 0.62 crores passengers travelled in AC coaches in comparison to last year with additional 0.15 crores passengers. A total number of 0.39 crores passengers travelled in general and sleeper classes which is 4.33% increase in passenger as compared to last year.  More than 27 lakhs of additional berths were provided in special trains to prevent the rush during the current festive season.

It may be mentioned here that, a total of 372 crores passengers travelled all over India this year, 95.3% travelled in non-AC classes (general and sleeper classes) and 4.7% opted for the AC classes

Indian Railway is now running 562 additional trains every day as compared to pre-covid days. While in pre-Covid days 10,186 trains ran every day, it has gone up to 10,748 now. The highest increase is in the number of mail and express trains which have gone up to 2,122 from 1,768 in the pre-covid period. Even more sub-urban trains, which connect suburbs and cities, have been put into service in the post-Covid period leading to an increase in its numbers from 5626 to 5774.

Realising the daily need of local travellers within a city, 2,852 trains have been introduced by Indian Railways for daily commuters. Earlier, in the pre-Covid era, this number was 2792.