TNI Bureau: Another tight slap will be hit on people of India after the hike in diesel prices as the hike in rail fares is coming into effect from Monday midnight. The hike was announced on January 9, first time in over a decade. Union Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal had made it clear that the decision was taken to maintain the safety and cleanliness of the trains.
The fare hike is expected to raise Rs 12,000 crore annually for the government. However, the minister had said that the fares will not be hiked in the railway budget.
With the hike, fares of sleeper class will be increased by up to 6 paise per km. The second class fares will go up by 3 paise per km. Fares for second class mail and express trains will be costlier by 4 paise per km.
Travel by AC Chair Car will be costlier as the fares have been hiked by 10 paise per km. AC First Class fares have been hiked by 3 paise per km in addition to 10 paise, AC Two Tier by 6 paise and AC First Class Executive fares by 10 paise per km in addition to the 30 paise per km hike done earlier.
Support Independent Journalism? Keep us live.
As a result, the ordinary Second Class suburban fares for a distance of 35 km will go up by Rs 2 from Rs 8 to Rs 10, fares for the non-suburban trains will go up by Rs 5 for an average distance of 135 km. For Sleeper class, Rs 50 will be hiked for a distance of 770 km from Rs 270 to Rs 320.
For AC Chair Car, the passengers will have to pay Rs 40 more for a distance of 387 km from Rs 345 to Rs 385, in case of AC 3 Tier Rs 76 for a distance of 717 km from Rs 724 to Rs 800.
In the case of AC Two Tier, it would be hike of Rs 48 for a distance of 721 km, for AC First Class it would be Rs 56 for a distance of 547 km.