The large stretch of Indian Railway is an amazing feat achieved after the independence. The number of rails and routes have increased dramatically in the few decades. The system has kept in tandem with the transportation requirements of an ever growing population that has crossed over a billion mark. The need for railways was mostly in two sectors transportation of people and goods. The third to enter the fray was the tourism trains. An accommodation was required on rail for long distance travel and short trips. In case of metro rails seat arrangement or support was all that was required. For long journeys sleeper coaches had an array of berths on which the passenger could stretch out and sleep. Since this was the most affordable class for long journeys the train comprised of large number of sleeper coaches. The berths were cushioned for comfort and large enough. During the steam engine era there was one first class coach in rails that comprised of independent cabins. These cabins had four berths with reasonable space. The traditional first class coach continued for a long time before the introduction of 3 AC and 2nd Ac. The first AC coach was transformed into a more modern apparatus but retained the cabin structure. For luxury travel on long distance journey 3 Ac and 2nd Ac have proved to be most successful. Most of the express trains in India have two to three 3 Ac cars. The number of 2nd Ac car is usually one in express trains and two in super fast rails. The first Ac car is usually present in trains between metro cities and those halting at major tourists sots and pilgrimage centers. For short journeys express train between major cities have seating chair arrangement. The two class of coaches comprise of Ac and non Ac. The Ac cars in all trains are expensive and the first class fare being equivalent to air travel. During the holiday season and festivals there is difficulty in getting reserved berth. This creates a long wait list and the railway website becomes much busier. The online ticketing facility makes ticket booking easier but it has no control over availability. The rush of users checking pnr status online often bogs down the rail site server. The rush can be so great that the Tatkal booking gets over in couple of hours. In summers irrespective if holidays travelers in air conditioned class increase fourfold blocking all the berths. During the rest if the period berths are generally available with ease. But one should book in advance to ensure seat availability. There is usually a good demand for 3 Ac and 2nd Ac berths throughout the year.
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