Goyal junks report suggesting change

NEWDELHI: Railway minister Piyush Goyal has asked a committee, set up to review the flexi-fare scheme, to go back to the drawing board and draft a fresh report after it suggested introducing dynamic pricing, like airlines, in the railways, officials said.

The committee, formed in December last year, had a mandate of assessing the impact of the flexi-fare scheme in its current form on railway revenue and on passengers — in terms of their choice of railways as a means of transport with increased fare.

The committee, which submitted its report on January 15, had suggested dynamic pricing, like the one applicable in airlines, for all mail express trains. It suggested ticket prices may vary on various factors such as higher prices for a train that takes lesser time to travel compared to others, additional charges for lower berth and travel during festival times. It also recommended passengers be made to pay more for choosing premium trains and booking close to departure dates.

In a nearly 20-minute meeting on flexi-fare on March 13, the minister is believed to have expressed his unhappiness over the proposals and asked the committee to take another look since data showed that in its current form, the scheme had already resulted in higher revenue and increase in passengers. The committee consists of Railway Board officials, NITI Aayog adviser Ravinder Goyal, executive director (revenue management) of Air India Meenakshi Malik, professor S Sriram, and Iti Mani, director, revenue, Le Meridien.

Senior officials of the ministry also said the flexi-fare scheme had been beneficial for the national transporter. They maintained there had been an increase in number of passengers as well as earnings in flexi-fare trains in the six months between September and February.