Passenger Fare To Come Down By 15%, India Railways Plan To Resume Regular Trains With Pre-COVID Prices

The fares of around 1700 such trains that were tagged 'special' during the pandemic will see a reduction in prices including short-distance passenger trains.

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New Delhi: Since the Indian Railways have resumed services like the pre-Covid times the Railways have been under the pressure from the passengers to reduce fares of the tickets.

Following through, the Railways last week issued an order to discontinue the 'special' tag for mail and express trains and revert to pre-pandemic ticket prices with immediate effect. With this move, the fares are also likely to see a drop and according to a report by Business Standard it is expected to come down by 15%.

The fares of around 1700 such trains that were tagged 'special' during the pandemic will see a reduction in prices. These included even short-distance passenger trains that were tagged as ‘special’ and were running with higher fares.

The Passenger Marketing Directorate of Railway Board said in an order released on November 12: "In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, all regular mail/express trains were being operated as MSPC (mail/express special) and HSP (holiday special). It has now been decided that the MSPC and HSP train services, included in the Working Time Table, 2021, shall be operated with regular numbers and with fares as applicable for the concerned classes of travel and type of train, as per the extant guidelines.”

But while the train schedule will return to pre-pandemic timings, officials have said that the Railways will continue with the Covid-19 prohibitions introduced such as restrictions on concessions, meal services, and bed-rolls.

In another order, the Railway Board clarified that the second class of such trains shall continue to run as reserved except for any relaxation permitted in a special case.

It also said that for tickets booked in advance, no difference of fare either is to be collected by Railways or any refund shall be permitted. Neither order however specifies when the zonal railways are required to revert to their pre-Covid regular services.

The Indian Railways had witnessed a surge in revenues and reports say that the railways recorded an increase of 113% in income from its passenger section during the second quarter of 2021-2022 as compared to the first.