Flexi fare scrapped in some trains
New Delhi: The railways has scrapped flexi- fare in 15 premium trains in which the occupancy is less than 50 per cent throughout the year, while the scheme will be discontinued in 32 other trains during lean periods when occupancy dips to 50- 75 per cent. — PTI
New Delhi, Oct. 31: In a relief for passengers, railways has scrapped flexi- fare in 15 premium trains in which the occupancy is less than 50 per cent throughout the year, while the scheme will be discontinued in 32 other trains during lean periods when occupancy dips to 50- 75 per cent.
It has also reduced flexifares from 1.5 to 1.4 times the base ticket fare in 101 trains, railway minister Piyush Goyal said Wednesday.
The step comes in the wake of the Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) report in July that had flagged the dipping
The scheme will be discontinued in 32 other trains during lean periods when occupancy dips to 50- 75%. Railways has also reduced flexi- fares from 1.5 to 1.4 times the base ticket fare in 101 trains. occupancy level since the scheme was introduced in September 2016 and had recommended rationalisation of flexi- fare.
Sources in railways also said that while the railways will incur losses of around ` 103 crore by the changes brought into the scheme, it hopes to recover not just the losses but also generate additional revenue by increasing occupancy through the reduced fares.
Some trains in which the scheme will be discontinued because of low occupancy include Kalka- New Delhi Shatabdi, Howrah Puri Rajdhani, Chennai-Madurai Duronto.
The trains in which flexi- fares will not be applicable during lean periods include Amritsar Shatabdi, Indore Duronto, Jaipur Duronto, Bilaspur Rajdhani, Kathgodam- Anandvihar Shatabdi, Ranchi Rajdhani among others.
On September 9, 2016, the railways had introduced flexi- fare for premier trains: 44 Rajdhani, 52 Duronto and 46 Shatabdi Express trains.
Under this, the base fare increases by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold, subject to a prescribed limit.
“As a gift to passengers this festive season, railways has decided to reduce flexi fares from 1.5 to 1.4 times the base ticket fare, and to completely remove flexi- fares from trains with less than 50 per cent occupancy,” the minister tweeted.