The reserved train travel in Indian Railways touched a record in 2024-25 with almost 81 crore passenger bookings across the network, except the Konkan zone, official data accessed by News18 shows. Reserved bookings in 2024-25 rose 65% from 49 crore in 2014-15 and 40% from 59 crore in 2019-20.
The numbers suggest that reserved travel is rising steadily, while non-suburban unreserved travel shows a declining trend. However, in absolute numbers, unreserved passengers still far outnumber those in reserved classes.
Non-suburban trains鈥攎edium and long distance鈥攈ave broadly two categories of tickets: unreserved and reserved. Unreserved does not offer reserved seating. These tickets are for general coaches, offering seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
For reserved classes, including sleeper and AC classes, seats are confirmed. Suburban trains, more famous as local trains, are short-distance trains primarily operating within 100-150 km around a metropolitan city.
Daily averages
In terms of daily average, in 2024-25, the number of passengers opting for reserved class was 22 lakh as against 65 lakh opting for unreserved travel per day. Clubbed with the suburban class, in 2024-25, on average, about two crore passengers travelled daily on Indian Railways, except the Konkan Zone.
In 2014-15, the total passengers were 2.25 crore, mainly from unreserved suburban and non-suburban.
In 2014-15, over 13 lakh passengers booked reserved class tickets per day on average as against 89 lakh opting for unreserved class daily, the analysis shows.
Unreserved travel in non-suburban trains peaked in 2014-15 with 324 crore passengers. The category has registered a consistent drop since then. In 2024-25, 236 crore passenger bookings were done in the unreserved category鈥揳round a 30% drop since 2014-15.
Even in the pre-Covid years, the numbers were dropping. In 2019-20, 291 crore unreserved tickets were sold.
Why are more people choosing reserved?
A senior railway ministry official told News18 that more passengers are choosing reserved travel, possibly due to health safety and hygiene concerns post-pandemic and also due to greater availability of trains and digital ticketing for reserved class.
鈥淎t the same time, train tickets are affordable and offer great comforts with trains like Vande Bharat,鈥 the official said, requesting anonymity.
Another official added that rising middle-class incomes and better affordability allow more passengers to opt for reserved classes.
Also, better income, clubbed with better roads, has allowed commuters to drive between cities or take public buses instead of trains. The increase in the reserved class is also due to sufficient trains and better seat management.
鈥淭here is no doubt that the reserved class offers a better travel experience. Cleaner coaches and guaranteed seats are attractive, especially for those travelling for longer journeys. Also, in the case of solo travellers, women, and the elderly, reserved coaches are safer compared to crowded unreserved coaches,鈥 the second official said.
General and non-AC sleeper class accounts for 70% coaches
As of April 2024, 70% of Indian Railways鈥 79,000 coaches鈥攁bout 56,000鈥攚ere general or non-AC sleeper class, while the remaining were AC class.
In terms of seats, out of the 65 lakh seats, 14 lakh are in the AC class and 51 lakh in general and sleeper.
During 2019-20 and 2023-24, AC class travel accounted for 18 per cent of seat bookings and 47% of revenue, while non-AC travel鈥攇eneral and sleeper鈥攁ccounted for 82% of seat bookings and 53% of revenue, railway data shows.
As shown in the graph, the reserved class booking is setting new records every year, the unreserved bookings in the suburban section and the overall passenger bookings across the sections are yet to surpass the pre-Covid numbers.
Revenue: Daily earnings hit Rs 207 crore in 2024-25
Revenue generated by Indian Railways from passenger operations has increased from Rs 42,190 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 50,669 crore in 2019-20 and Rs 75,500 crore in 2024-25.
Barring the pandemic years, passenger revenue has grown steadily, as shown in the graph.
In terms of the average daily passenger revenue generated, the growth is from Rs 116 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 139 crore in 2019-20.
Following the pandemic abating, the revenue touched Rs 174 crore daily in 2022-23 and eventually Rs 207 crore in 2024-25.
Flexi fare, Tatkal, and Premium Tatkal schemes contributed about 6% of total passenger revenue since 2019-20.
In 2023-24, the passenger earnings were Rs 70,693 crore鈥攃lose to 95% of these earnings came from non-suburban passengers, with second and sleeper class mail and express passengers comprising 42.91% of the total passenger earnings. Suburban traffic contributed 4.05% to the total earnings in 2023-24, the ministry data shows.
With data indicating a steady shift towards reserved travel, Indian Railways鈥攂acked by cleaner coaches, digital ticketing, and a growing middle class鈥攊s evolving into a more comfortable, commuter-first transport system.