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.
To query made by Madhya Pradesh based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Railway Board in its RTI reply said no new trains were introduced in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to the suspension of all existing services.
While the Railways did not introduce any new trains during the Covid-hit 2020-21, it brought in 144 new services in 2019-20, 266 in 2018-2019, 170 in 2017-2018 and 223 in 2016-2017.
