Railway board chairman and CEO YK Yadav at a press briefing said all trains currently in operation will be monitored to determine which trains have a long waiting time. He added clone trains will be run on routes or trains where there is heavy traffic and long wait lists. The clone will be run ahead of the actual train so that passengers can travel easily.
He also said that stoppages of the clone trains will be fewer than the special trains being run currently. “Idea is to meet the demand for major stations so there will be fewer stoppages on these clone trains,” he added.
Clone trains will be run with the same number as the special train. If, for instance, all seats on a Rajdhani train on a particular route are filled with a lot of passengers in the waitlist, then another rake in the same number will carry the additional passengers. The waitlisted passengers will be informed of their seat numbers soon after reservation charts of the original are drawn up four hours before the departure.
However, there will be challenges in implementing the same as railways will need additional rakes for clone trains and it will need to update its Passenger Reservation System (PRS). Currently, booking is disabled for trains once it touches 400 in sleeper train, 300 in 3AC or car chair, 30 in first class, and 100 in second class.
