Train 18’s AC chair car ticket to cost Rs 1,850

Travelling between Delhi and Varanasi on board India's fastest train, the Vande Bharat Express or Train 18, will cost passengers Rs 1,850 in the chair car class while it will be Rs 3,520 in the executive class, including the catering charges, a senior railway official said Monday.

On the return journey, the chair car (CC) ticket will cost Rs 1,795 and the executive class (EC) ticket will be priced at Rs 3,470, the official told PTI on Monday.

While the chair car fares are 1.5 times the base price of Shatabdi trains running the same distance, the executive class fares are 1.4 times that of the base fare of first class air conditioned seating in the premium train, official sources said. The semi-high speed train, which is scheduled to be flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 15, is India's first engineless train. The ticket fares between Delhi and Kanpur (447 km) will be Rs 1,150 in the chair car and Rs 2,245 in EC, between Delhi and Prayagraj (642 km) the price will be Rs 1,480 and Rs 2,935 of CC and EC respectively.

Between Kanpur and Prayagraj (195 km) the price for CC will be Rs 630 and for EC it will be Rs 1,245. The prices between Kanpur and Varanasi (319 km) a CC ticket will cost Rs 1,065 and an EC ticket will cost Rs 1,925, the sources said.

The train will have differently priced meals as well. While passengers travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi in the executive class will be charged Rs 399 for morning tea, breakfast and lunch, travellers in the chair car will need to pay Rs 344 for the same.