The railways, as reported by dna, is all set to laugh its way to the bank with its concept of premium trains, the ones with ticket fares rising along with the intensity in demand.
What has been the costliest fare until now?
As reported by dna in its Tuesday edition, the ticket prices of the Bandra-Vaishnodevi train for October 20 — on the eve of Diwali on October 23 — broke the Rs10,000 barrier within hours of its opening for booking on Monday.
How has the Rajdhani 'fared' so far?
The figures accessed by dna for the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani for the past two days shows that the 'premium tatkal' brainwave is also a winner. The Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani that departed from Mumbai Central on October 5 saw its 2AC tatkal ticket going for a whopping Rs7,245. The base fare of this ticket is Rs3,225. The 3AC tatkal ticket went for Rs5,670, against a base fare of Rs2,390.
The Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani that departed on October 6 also saw the railways making some good money. The 2AC tatkal ticket went at Rs7,245 — like the previous day — and the 3AC tatkal ticket got sold for as high as Rs6,080.
How much has the revenue been?
Buoyed by the premium trains bringing in anything between 30 and 50% more revenue, the railways last week brought in half of all tatkal bookings on certain trains under the premium concept.
Railways 'catering to the demand'
For the railways, any suggestion that the premium concept is nothing but a selective fare hike by another name is unacceptable. "There is a spike in demand during festive seasons. People who make their plans late are at the mercy of touts. We have ensured that even 15 days before the journey, there are seats," said an official.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief spokesperson, Western Railway, called it the most transparent way of nullifying the effect of touts.
Seats till the last day
Railway backers of the concept say the premium trains are ensuring that the tickets are available till the last day, making it easy for people, who have to go somewhere on an emergency or whose journey plans got finalised at the last moment.
For example, officials point out, the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani that left on October 5 had three seats available in its 2AC class and nine in its 3AC class. Similarly, the Rajdhani that departed on October 6 from Mumbai Central had one seat available in its 2AC class. The August Kranti Mumbai-Delhi that departed on October 5 had nine seats available in the 2AC class and 12 in the 3AC class.
Nothing but a fare hike
However, for some passengers, like Bhandup resident Manish Chaturvedi, it is a concept that is friendly for individual travellers but not for those travelling with families. "It's fine if you are paying Rs4,000 for a single ticket. But, during the festive season, Indians tend to travel with families. Under this concept, I'd have to shell out almost Rs20,000 for my journey. That is very stiff. I think it is a short-cut. It is better to add new lines on congested routes and run more trains," he said.
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