Overwhelmed, yet why railways won't restrict unreserved travel

Imagine a train so crowded that passengers sit on luggage racks, squeeze between seats, occupy the compartment corridors and almost jam the doors. On February 15, 18 unreserved train passengers died and several others were seriously injured in a stampede at the New Delhi railway station, highlighting once again the capacity limits of the Indian Railways. The question that many, including the Delhi High Court, are asking now is: Why does railways keep selling tickets when trains are obviously overloaded? In comparison to many train systems around the world, where every passenger has a designated seat, the Indian Railways operates a significant “unreserved” category. As Sudhanshu Mani, former general manager of the Integral Coach Factory, puts it, “Indian Railways has no policy to restrict sale of general-class tickets as the capacity of such coaches is of little consequence.” He adds that the model assumes that passengers travel in packed coaches without comfort or dignity.