Railways make hay while airlines keep increasing prices

The Mumbai-Delhi air traveller is indeed moving to trains. Thanks to the soaring airfare, the hi-end AC trains originating from the city like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and even the Garibh Raths have seen a rise in ticket sales and bookings.

Here’s proof: The Western Railway has earned an additional sum of Rs2.5 crore in the past one month by running the Rajdhani to Delhi. In fact, as compared to last year, there has been 18% growth in demand for trains. “Thanks to the soaring prices of airlines, passengers are coming to us and we have no issues in running additional trains and adding more coaches,” an elated WR spokesperson Sharat Chandrayan said.

Official data has revealed that last month the WR added 26 extra coaches in Rajdhanis and 29 extra coaches on the August Kranti Delhi-bound trains.

The poor man’s chariot started by former railway minister Lalu Yadav, the Garib Rath too has been a hit and is booked
to capacity.The additional AC trains have targeted flyers and have tried to accommodate the maximum number of passengers, who are forced to travel by air in case of non-availability of berths.

“The railways and the airlines have been fighting over the Mumbai-Delhi fare too, by slashing prices of Rajdhani Express as low-cost airlines have lowered their rates,” a senior railway manager said.

“A few years ago, there was an aggressive battle between the two when the airlines had slashed prices drastically,” the manager said. “The soaring airfare has now given the railways an edge.”