Railway minister proposes to fare hike

Expect the minimum suburban train fare to go up from Rs4 to Rs5. Given that Union railway minister Dinesh Trivedi has rounded off the cost of a local train ticket to the nearest multiple of five and has rationalised it with an increased charge of 2paise/km, the hike may hit you soon.

Since there is no clarity on the issue as yet, railway officials in Mumbai said they would wait for the calculations and the fare table before making comments.

Explaining the rounding-off procedure, a senior accounts official in Mumbai said the current minimum fare of Rs4 will be rounded off to Rs5, but that of Rs6 will be lowered to Rs5. A ticket that costs Rs7 will now come at Rs10. “However, we will wait for the detailed chart of the break-up before saying anything.”

The railway budget will be debated in Parliament. If the hike stays, it will come into effect from April.
While announcing the rounding-off of the fares for suburban railways, Trivedi proposed an exception: drop in fare of Rs11 to Rs10 and of Rs 6 to Rs5.

He was, however, confident that the proposed revisions will not burn a hole in commuters’ pockets. “They will have marginal impact on the fares. The increase in fares for suburban second-class passengers travelling 35km will be only Rs2,” he added.