Railway officials monitoring the performance of the recently launched premium train between Mumbai and Delhi say the experiment, though not a runaway success, is still good enough for the concept to get a foothold in the Railways’s scheme of things. The train – the country’s first with fluctuating ticket prices – has seen a robust occupancy since New Year and officials claim that more than the money it has brought in it has managed to free the congested Mumbai-Delhi route from touts.On January 1, the train saw 195 of its 208 2AC berths filled, while 687 of the 720 berths in the 3AC coaches got sold. The January 3 leg as on Thursday evening showed the train having an occupancy of 190 2AC seats and 705 3AC berths. The sales for the train’s Mumbai-Delhi leg on January 5, as on Thursday evening, was 162 in the 2AC class and 565 in the 3AC class.“This train has a good future if we run it once or twice a week, especially on Fridays. Since the tickets are available only online and with a very short booking period, the chances of touts getting hold of the system is almost nil,” said a senior railway official.

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