Indian Railways to offer discounts similar to airlines and hotels

The latest Indian Railways offer clearly indicates that we are in an interesting period for travel. According to an announcement made by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, Indian Railways might soon offer discounts on train tickets for journeys that are not fully booked.

The minister also added that the discounts offered by the Indian Railways will be similar to that of the ones offered by airlines and hotels. In fact, he also indicated towards a complete revamp of the flex-fare scheme of the railways that has been creating headlines for a while now. For now, the Indian Railways is studying a dynamic pricing model which is offered by the airlines and hotels in the country, revealed Goyal.

Explaining this further, Goyal said, “We have been deliberating on a dynamic pricing policy. So far we have been discussing that the price should not go up, but I want to go a step ahead. I am exploring a possibility where suppose trains are not going full — like in airlines, we get discounted fares.”

The national railway body is also planning to match up to the airlines so much that they are even willing to offer discounts on train journey on last minute bookings on the routes that are less frequented by passengers as compared to the rest.

The minister also suggested about Railways’ plans to get trains ready for the next journey after it has completed one, just like airlines usually get their aircrafts ready for their next journeys in half an hour or so. Goyal said, “It is a saying that one should be able to sweat one’s assets. Right now a Rajdhani Express train from Delhi to Mumbai stays at the station for maintenance. It can be maintained and cleaned by 22 teams in 30 minutes and again made fit to go on a journey of two or three hours, besides its original return journey.”

Read more: Indian Railways sees a growth of 21 million passengers in 2017
Indian Railways to give virtual tours of Mumbai CSMT; more to follow