A reduction in the fares for air-conditioned locals is in the offing - Indian Railways is drawing up plans in this regard. Sources said a proposal of the new fare structure for the AC locals has been prepared and forwarded to the ministry.
Confirming the development, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, “We have received a proposal in this regard. A new fare structure will be announced for the air-conditioned local trains shortly, which will definitely be passenger-friendly.”
High fares are the reason for lukewarm response to the AC locals. “To attract second-class passengers of non-AC locals to AC locals, a new second-class AC may be a part of the new fare structure. The fare of this new class (2nd AC) could be twice the existing non-AC local fare,” said sources.
Currently, for second class travel, the base price of single-journey tickets for a distance of 150 km is Rs 35. In the case of AC locals, passengers need to pay around Rs 350 for the same distance.
“The Railways is trying to create a new class in AC local and single journey base fares for this new class for a distance of 65 km would be around Rs 30,” said a senior official of the railway ministry.
Similarly, the basic cost of monthly season tickets for a distance of 65 km for the proposed new class in AC local would be around Rs 600. Currently, passengers pay over Rs 2,000 for a monthly pass for this distance. The minimum basic fare for a single journey up to 5km in the proposed new class of air-conditioned locals would be Rs 10 and the cost of monthly tickets would be around Rs 200.
