NEW DELHI: The Railways has decided to extend the scheme for automatic upgradation of full fare paying waitlisted passengers, without any additional burden to them, on to the next higher class against vacant accommodation to all Rajdhani Express trains and 15 more pairs of trains from February 6.

It is projected that the Railways would be earning Rs. 500 crore annually through the scheme besides gaining two per cent improvement in load factor.

The decision comes in the wake of the successful experiments carried out earlier in which the Railways earned Rs. 3 lakh revenue through the scheme. The scheme was launched on experimental basis on the Republic Day.

The 15 pairs of trains include 2393/2394 Patna-Delhi Sampoorn Kranti Express, 2723/2724 Secunderabad-New Delhi A.P. Express, 2627/2628 Bangalore-New Delhi Karnataka Express, 2417/2418 Allahabad-New Delhi Prayagraj Express, 2505/2506 Guwahati-New Delhi North East Express, 2801/2802 Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express, 2955/2956 Mumbai-Jaipur Express, 2621/2622 Chennai-New Delhi Tamilnadu Express, 2625/2626 Trivandrum-New Delhi Kerala Express, 2841/2842 Howrah-Chennai Coromandel Express, 2859/2860 CSTM-Howrah Geetanjali Express, 2559/2560 Varanasi-New Delhi Shivganga Express, 9143/9144 Mumbai-Ahmedabad Lokshakti Express, 2901/2902 Mumbai-Ahmedabad Gujarat Mail and 7053/7054 Chennai-Hyderabad Hyderabad Express.

The Railway Ministry said on Friday the facility of upgradation of passengers will be automatically provided unless the passenger gives a `No' option at the time of filling up of the requisition form. An analysis of 200 passengers, who were given feedback coupons, shows that most of the passengers lauded the scheme but said that the announcement system should be strengthened so that more and more people became aware of the scheme. SMS and IVRS are also being used for announcements.

The scheme is being implemented in a large number of trains and if this is successful, RAC passengers will also be covered under the scheme.

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