No fare hikes up to 500 km for ordinary class travel: Railways

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) The Ministry of Railways on Monday announced a new fare structure for passenger train services, which will come into effect from July 1.

One of the key highlights of the revised structure is that there will be no increase in fares for ordinary non-AC class passengers travelling up to 500 kilometres.

The fare rationalisation aims to streamline the existing fare system and improve the financial health of passenger services.

The updated fare chart has been issued by the Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA) and will be applicable across various categories of trains and classes.

For ordinary non-suburban trains, there will be a marginal increase in fares beyond 500 kilometres.

In second-class coaches, the fare will go up by Rs 5 for journeys between 501 and 1,500 km, Rs 10 for distances between 1,501 and 2,500 km, and Rs 15 for 2,501 to 3,000 km.

Sleeper class and first-class fares in non-suburban trains will also increase slightly, by 0.5 paisa per kilometre.

In Mail and Express trains (non-AC classes), second class, sleeper class, and first class fares will see a uniform hike of 1 paisa per kilometre.

For AC classes, including Chair Car, 3-Tier, 2-Tier, AC First, Executive Class, and Anubhuti Class, the increase will be 2 paisa per kilometre.

The fare changes will also apply to special and premium trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Amrit Bharat, Mahamana, Gatimaan, Antyodaya, Jan Shatabdi, Yuva Express, and trains with AC Vistadome and Anubhuti coaches.

There will be no change in suburban ticket fares or season tickets, whether suburban or non-suburban.

Additionally, reservation fees, superfast surcharges, and other charges will remain unchanged.

GST will continue to be levied as per existing rules, and rounding-off principles for fares will remain the same.

The revised fares will apply only to tickets booked on or after July 1. Tickets issued before this date will remain valid at the old rates, and passengers will not need to pay any fare difference.

The Indian Railways has directed all zones to ensure a smooth transition by updating their ticketing systems -- PRS (Passenger Reservation System), UTS (Unreserved Ticketing System), and manual counters -- and by updating fare boards at stations across the country.

--IANS

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