After the pandemic, more passengers prefer to travel in the 3rd AC coaches on our trains, as per the newly released figures from Indian Railways. As per these reports, the coaches have outpaced the previous best-performing sleeper class. In 2019, only 1.4% of all travellers, which means just 11 crore passengers, opted for the 3rd AC travel. However, in the 2024-25 bracket, 19% of passengers chose the 3rd AC, which means 26 crore travellers. This means that while the railway generated just about Rs 12,370 crore in revenue from AC 3-tier coaches in 2019, it jumped to Rs 30,089 in 2024-25. According to experts, Here are a few reasons for the same.

The key reasons
1) Extreme weather conditions like rising pollution and heat make non-AC travel uncomfortable for many people. As Indian summers get worse, AC travel has become a necessity.
2) Unlike in the past, the price gap between the sleeper coach and the 3rd AC coach has been reduced, which means it's more affordable for a lot more passengers. The AC 3-tier fares have also increased in the past five years, but their increases are still lower compared to AC First Class, 2-tier and AC Chair Car. 
3) At a time when many incidents of abuse, theft and lack of safety are reported from sleeper and general classes, AC coaches are generally found to be cleaner and safer. Moreover, it also hardly has unauthorised passengers.

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4) There are also more 3A coaches on our trains to match the demand. 
5) Reports indicate that there is also a sense of 'upward mobility' or that more passengers wish to travel comfortably and consider the extra price value for money. 

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