Railways to upgrade all non AC sleeper coaches to AC ones for high speed trains

Railways has decided to upgrade all non-AC sleeper coaches to AC ones for high speed trains. It will upgrade all its trains capable of running at a maximum speed of 130 km per hour and beyond with special air-conditioned coaches.

Railway ministry said that the decision will only impact high speed trains and all existing mail and express trains with a maximum speed of up to 110 km per hour will continue to ply with sleeper coaches. 

Railways is working on a massive plan to upgrade the railway network to high speed potential. Tracks on golden quadrilateral and diagonals are being upgraded to cater



to speeds of 130 km - 160 km per hour.

Speed potential of some of the corridors has already been upgraded to 130 km per hour. Railway ministry said, wind and weather factors demand that only certain types of coaches run at higher speed.

At present, most mail and express trains have a maximum speed of 110 km per hour. Premium trains like Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos are allowed to operate at 120 km per hour on significant parts of the Golden Quadrilateral and Diagonals. The rakes for such trains are fit to operate at 130 km per hour or above.