New Delhi: Indian Railways gave a subsidy of Rs 60,239 crore on passenger tickets in 2024-25, amounting to a concession of 43 per cent on average, to every traveller, or, in other words, if the cost of providing service is Rs 100, then the price of the ticket is Rs 57 only, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Parliament on Wednesday.
This subsidy is continuing for all passengers. Further, concessions beyond this subsidy amount are continuing for many categories, like four categories of persons with Disabilities (Divyangjans), 11 categories of patients, and 8 categories of students, the minister said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
The minister said that the Railways does not consider ticket fare as a “trade secret”. The information related to fares for all categories of passenger services is widely published information available in the public domain.
To ensure utmost transparency, details of various components of passenger fares (Base fare, Reservation charge, Superfast charge, GST, etc.) are displayed on passenger tickets, published as fare tables in physical and digital form, which are displayed on computerised ticketing systems (Passenger Reservation System, Unreserved Ticketing System) and mobile applications (RailOne), he said.
Further, information related to any change in the passenger fares rationalisation, revisions, etc., undertaken from time to time is also widely published. Indian Railways, as a public owned enterprise, is fully accountable to the people and to the Parliament for the delivery of services in a financially sustainable manner. Passenger fares are determined taking into consideration the cost of service, competition from other modes of transportation and affordability, the minister pointed out.
The minister also stated that the fare structure of the Vande Bharat Sleeper train is based on a per passenger-per-kilometre rate, for the 3rd Air-conditioned Class (3AC) is Rs 2.40 excluding GST. The indicative fares for a distance of 1,000 km, excluding GST, are Rs 2,400 for 3 AC.
Vande Bharat Sleeper train is a different category of passenger service with an all-inclusive fare, and this train has no provision for RAC tickets. Passengers on the waiting list get confirmation when confirmed passengers cancel their tickets. Therefore, services are accessible to passengers.
Vaishnaw said that the Indian Railways continuously strive to provide various facilities for the convenience of passengers, including senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwDs). Some of the facilities extended to senior citizens and PwDs include allotment of lower berths to PwDs, senior citizens, female passengers of 45 years and above automatically, even if no choice is given, subject to availability. Besides, earmarking of a combined quota of six to seven lower berths per coach in Sleeper class, four to five lower berths per coach each in Air Conditioned 3 tier (3AC) and three to four lower berths per coach in Air Conditioned 2 tier (2AC) classes (depending on the number of coaches of that class in the train) for senior citizens, female passengers 45 years of age and above and pregnant women, he added.
(IANS)
