Indian Railway passengers will now pay less on fares in premium trains, including Shatabdi, Tejas, Gatimaan, Double Decker and Intercity trains as the national transporter decided to give a discount of 25 per cent on fares if seats in
these trains remain empty.
these trains remain empty.
The decision to this effect has been taken after noticing that less than 50 per cent seats were occupied on the separate routes in the last few months. Keeping this in mind, Railways has empowered the Principal Chief Commercial Manager of all the zones to extend 25 per cent discount on the fares, according to an official statement. Only trains with monthly occupancy of less than 50% in the previous year are eligible for discount.
The statement said that "Discount to be offered can be upto 25% of the base fare. Reservation fee, superfast charge, GST, etc., as applicable will be separate. Discount can be given for the first leg and/or last leg of journey and/or intermediate sections and/or end to end journey. There is a provision to make catering optional with the discounted fare."
It further added that discounted fare can be for the full year, part of the year or month wise or seasonal or for weekdays/weekend.
Accordingly, all Zonal Railways have been directed by the Commercial Directorate of the Railway Board to review the occupancy of all trains with Chair Car and Executive Class seating accommodation by the 30th of September 2019 and take suitable action.
Notably, the scheme is aimed at improving occupancy and earnings of the Indian Railways.
The railway ministry also decided that the existing discounted scheme in following trains shall continue as per the existing discounted principles:
1. 12007/12008 Chennai Central-Mysuru Shatabdi Express over Benguluru-Mysuru-Bengaluru section
2. 12010 Ahemdabad-Mumbai Centra Shatabdi train over Ahemdabad-Vadodara section
3. 12042 New Jalpaiguri-Horah Shatabdi Express over Jalpaiguri-Malda town section
