Railway fare hiked

Railway fare hiked

From January 22, rail travel will cost more after an across-the-board hike in fares was announced on Wednesday — first such increase in 10 years.

A one-way sleeper class ticket between New Delhi and Mumbai Central, which currently costs Rs388, will be priced at Rs465 while an AC three-tier ticket between New Delhi and Patna will go up by Rs106 to Rs1, 005.

The railways is struggling to stay afloat and is also in a desperate need for funds for projects such as dedicated freight corridors and the Mumbai elevated rail corridor plan. Losses in the passenger section were expected to touch Rs25, 000 crore in 2012-13, Bansal said.

“No revision in basic fare for the last 10 years... has not only impacted critical aspects related to passenger safety and amenity but has also affected essential replacement, operation and maintenance activities,” he said. The lowest hike is of 2 paise a km for second-class suburban rail and the highest is 10 paise a km for AC first class. For sleeper class, the hike is 6 paise a km. Overall, there has been a substantial hike in the first class and AC fares – the second such increase in nine months.

In April last year, these fares were increased by the then railway minister Dinesh Trivedi. The last time passenger fares were increased was in way back in 2002 during Nitish Kumar’s tenure as union railway minister.The hike has been timed to mop up Rs1,000 crore during the ongoing Kumbh mela. The railways recently imposed a Kumbh surcharge – ranging from Rs2 per ticket to Rs5 per ticket.

The hike in railway fare will affect common people. Railways are not a profit oriented sector they are the service sector. At that time when bus, Auto, Taxi fare has increased the price increase in railway is bad for the common people. Railway is not providing facilities in spite of increased price. It is a drawback of Indian railway. The Rail budget is going to announce in next two month so it is a interest that what public get from rail budget.