Slight hike in fare for short-distance trains by Railways to ‘regulate rush amid Covid scare’

Feb. 24: On Wednesday, the Ministry of Railways came up with a fare hike announcement. The fare hike was done only for 3 percent of the total trains running, said the ministry. Higher fares for short-distance passenger trains have been introduced to discourage people from non-essential travel, as per a statement by the Indian Railways.

An official statement stated, “Railways would like to inform that these slightly higher fares for passenger and other short-distance trains had been introduced to discourage people from avoidable travels and those which are not most necessary. These fares are fixed at an unreserved price of mail and express trains for the same distance.”

According to the Rail Ministry, these fares have been fixed in passenger trains at the unreserved price of mail or express trains for the same distance. This higher price is be seen as “Pro Active measure of Railways to prevent crowding in trains and stop Covid from spreading,” the statement added.

It may be recalled that the Indian Railways stopped regular train operations on March 22, 2020 as a measure to curb the spread of the coronavirus and a nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, which came into force from the next day. The railways is constantly increasing the number of passenger-carrying trains in a graded manner. Currently, the railways has operationalised almost 65 per cent of the mail and express trains and over 90 per cent of the suburban services as compared to the pre-lockdown times.