New Delhi, October 18: Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday instructed the Railways’ catering arm- Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to make Railway Reserved Accommodation (Saloon coach) available for the commercial purpose for the general public. Earlier, the saloon coaches were reserved only for railway officials.Indian Railways to Exempt 40 Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Trains from Dynamic Pricing Scheme.

Goyal asked  IRCTC to free saloons not being used for public use commercially on payment basis. In March this year, IRCTC opened India’s first saloon coach with air-conditioned rooms, attached bathrooms and valet services to the public — initially reserved only for railway officials, a report by PTI informed. IRCTC Launches ‘AskDisha’ Chatbot for Customer Support Related to All Ticket Booking Queries. 

Take a look at the pictures of the saloon coaches: 

The Indian Railways has a total of 336 saloon cars across railway zones, among them 62 are air-conditioned. According to a PTI report, the saloons or inspection cars can usually accommodate two families and are adequately built to facilitate stay for upto five days. These coaches usually comprise of two bedrooms, a lounge, a pantry, a toilet and a kitchen. IRCTC New Rule: Railways to Put Heavy Penalty on Passengers Carrying Excess Luggage in Compartment.

In another landmark initiative by the Railways, the Indian Railways will manufacture metro rail coaches for the first time at its Rae Bareilly based factory under the Make In India scheme. According to a PTI report, these coaches will be manufactured by robots and will be on par with those being manufactured by Canadian firm Bombardier, currently being used by metro trains in the country.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 18, 2018 10:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).