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Panel wants season pass rates raised

Centre appointed committee to identify ways to improve revenue

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Season passes for travel on the Mumbai suburban rail network may become costlier, if the Union railway ministry accepts the suggestion of a high-powered committee which it appointed to identify ways in which the railways could improve its bottomline. The Committee on Traffic Optimisation submitted its report to railway minister Suresh Prabhu on Friday. The matter is a touchy one in Mumbai because more than 70% of the 75 lakh WR and CR suburban network commuters use season passes. A hike in rates of season passes would irk a significant number of citizens, and would yield flak for the powers that be.

What the committee has suggested?
Thanks to the decline in passengers on suburban networks as well as short-distance routes, the committee has suggested that fares of these routes — which in turn governs the season passes on these routes — be 'rationalised' or in simpler terms the subsidy or concessions allowed on them be withdrawn.

The railways contends that commuters get from season passes at least three times more value in terms of commutes made than the money they paid. Currently, a second-class season pass is calculated as 15 single second-class journeys on the same route, but railway officials claim that an average second-class pass-holder makes around 50 journeys a month. The first-class pass is calculated as four times the second-class pass.

These amounts also include surcharges meant for the first and second phases of Mumbai Urban Transport Project, as well as a CIDCO charge for building stations beyond Vashi.

Once bitten twice shy for the railways?
Officials in the city have long advocated that the number of journeys on which season passes are calculated be increased. In June last year, the railway ministry even tried this out by announcing a fare hike of 14.2% across the table- but given the way the rates of season passes skyrocketed, angering Mumbaikars, the ministry had no option but to scale back the rates to the earlier levels.

"That was a major opportunity lost because subsidised season passes are hurting the railways. CR's Mumbai division last year suffered a loss of Rs727 crore because of the season passes. It (the low rates) comes in the way of ploughing back money into the network to keep it efficient. The suburban network requires around Rs3,000 crore to rejuvenate itself, but that kind of money is not available," said a top-ranking official.

What about the level of suburban services?
But commuters will expect any increase in ticket rates to be reflected in an enhanced travel experience. For the railways plagued by frequent breakdowns of trains, crowding at the rate of 16 persons per square metre inside coaches, and falling punctuality, this is neither easily said nor done.

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