Over 800 new trains were introduced in the last five years : RTI Reply

Railways has introduced around 800 new trains across the country in the last five years. Over 800 new trains were introduced in the last five years after the Railway Budget was merged with the General Budget in 2016 and the national transporter ended the practice of one-time announcement of trains, an RTI reply has revealed. According to the reply of the Railway Board on the RTI application of Chandrashekhar Gaur, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, no new trains were run in the year 2020-21 due to the Covid-19 Pandemic as due to this, normal services had to be suspended. The then union minister Suresh Prabhu did not announce a single new train or extension of services while presenting the Railway Budget in 2015-16 and ended the practice of one-time announcement of trains. Indian Railways brought in 144 new services in 2019-20, 266 in 2018-2019, 170 in 2017-2018 and 223 in 2016-2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced that the Railways will introduce 75 new Vande Bharat Express' to mark the 75 years of Indian Independence by August 2023.