Rail fare hike for AC & non-AC classes kicks in from today

NEW DELHI: The hike in passenger fares will come into effect Tuesday after the railway ministry notified the revised fares for both AC and non-AC classes. The new fares will not apply for tickets issued at pre-revised rates, meaning passengers who booked tickets before Tuesday won't have to pay any extra charge.

While fares have increased by 2 paise per km for passengers travelling in AC classes, the hike for non-AC class is 1 paisa per km. A rough calculation shows that one-way travel in 3AC in Rajdhani trains from Delhi to Mumbai, Kolkata or Patna would get costlier by Rs 20-30, while a non-AC journey in mail and express trains would cost around Rs 10-15 more. There is no hike in fares for trains on the suburban rail network and monthly season tickets for both suburban and non-suburban trains. Similarly, there is no increase in fares for passengers travelling in second class on ordinary (non-mail or express) trains for distances up to 500km. Beyond this, they will have to pay extra half a paisa per km. Passengers of ordinary sleeper class and first class in non-mail or express trains will also have to pay half a paisa more per km from Tuesday.

"The fare revision also applies to premier and special train services, such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat and Tejas, and ordinary non-suburban services," the ministry said.

As per estimates based on the Budget document, which projects passenger km, railways were likely to earn an additional Rs 1,100-1,200 crore due to the fare hikes in the entire financial year. But since one quarter is already over, the national transporter it may garner additional revenue of Rs 800-900 crore from the passenger segment in this fiscal. The maximum additional revenue, of approximately Rs 534 crore, is expected from AC3 category, followed by Rs 458 crore from second class travel in mail and express trains.