Indian Railways ends flexi fare experiment on two stretches

The railways have, after starting an experiment of flexible fares from September 9 on some prime trains, decided to end it on the Jaipur-Ajmer and Mysuru-Bengaluru sections.

The railways were expecting additional revenue of ~500 crore by March from this but have got only ~92 crore more in the first two months. The rollback would result in reduction of fares of the trains on the said sections by an average of nine to 24 per cent.

The system was the same one followed by cab aggregators and the airline sector, with pricing driven by the rise or fall in demand. The new system was introduced on 142 premium trains — 42 Rajdhani, 46 Shatabdi and 54 of the Duronto. It had reduced the gap between airfares and the rates of these premium trains. Except for the two sections mentioned, the flexifare system would continue for now. In addition, the railways have decided on discounts for some train journeys.

“We had introduced the system on an experimental basis and will have a full review in a couple of months. Till then, the pricing system for premium trains will continue to be the same in the other sections,” said an official source.

According to sources, the expectation was for additional revenue of ~83 crore a month but occupancy fell with higher fares; many shifted to road or air travel. In the system, prices are to rise by 10 per cent for every 10 per cent of tickets sold. Supplementary levies such as reservation charge, superfast charge, catering charge and service tax remain the same.