Indian Railways to relaunch premium service called 'Suvidha' trains

Faced with some anomalies in dynamic fare system of the premium trains, the Railways will relaunch the service as 'Suvidha' trains after making certain changes in the system from July.

Railways run more than 50 premium trains, connecting major cities, on dynamic pricing system, which operates on the lines of the airline booking model.

While the initial fare is equivalent to Tatkal fare, it keeps increasing as seats get booked and departure date nears.

"It was found that tickets for 3 AC started to cost more than that for 2AC. So, we are making some changes to address this issue," Railway Board Member (Traffic) Ajay Shukla said.

As per the changes, tickets for premium trains, which at present can only be booked online, will also be available on window for Suvidha service.

Though the dynamic fare system will continue, customers will be get more options to know the going rate of all three classes - 1AC, 2AC and 3AC. The return of money in case of cancelled tickets has also been rationalised so that customer gets full return at one go, according to Shukla.

Railways had launched the ambitious venture of premium trains two years back with the dual purpose of providing a Rajdhani-like alternative service to passengers and to fill the depleting coffers of the public transporter.