First-class tickets on Mumbai’s suburban rail could get cheaper

A proposal was presented by the MRVC chairman and managing director Prabhat Sahai in the recently concluded Rail Vikas Shivir and is awaiting the railway ministry’s nod...

Fares of your suburban railway tickets may undergo a major overhaul if the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) has its way. On the agenda: Cheaper first-class tickets and a 100% rise in the minimum second-class fare from the existing Rs5.

The minimum first-class ticket fare, which now ranges between Rs50 and Rs70, has been proposed to be slashed to Rs25.(HT Photo)

A proposal was presented by the MRVC chairman and managing director Prabhat Sahai in the recently concluded Rail Vikas Shivir and is awaiting the railway ministry’s nod.

The minimum first-class ticket fare, which now ranges between Rs50 and Rs70, has been proposed to be slashed to Rs25, in an attempt to shift passengers from the second to the first class. Monthly season ticket fares for second-class short-distance passengers will be doubled, but second-class passengers from faroff suburbs will have to pay much less than the existing fares, according to the new proposal.

The planning authority for Mumbai suburban railways, for the first time, has proposed zone-wise ticketing for all four suburban lines on the Central and Western Railway (WR). It means the entire suburban network will be divided into four zones and fares will be based on these zones instead of the distance-wise slabs used currently.

“The objective is to simplify and rationalise suburban fare while increasing the revenue for loss-making railways. The restructuring may slightly increase fare for short-distance passengers, but for longdistance passengers, especially those travelling from Virar, Kalyan and Panvel, it will be reduced so it is balanced,” he said.

In the proposed restructuring, each of the suburban railway lines have been segregated into four zones and changing lines will attract 50% premium on season passes. Whereas, class I and II single tickets will cost an additional Rs25 and Rs5, respectively. The WR and CR mainline zone 1 will be from Churchgate to Dadar, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Dadar, while on harbour line it will be CSMT to Wadala.

Similarly, Zone 2 will comprise Dadar-Borivli on WR mainline, Dadar-Thane on CR mainline and Wadala Mankhrud and WadalaAndheri/Goregaon on harbour line.

To simplify this, the MRVC has also proposed Rs500 and Rs1,500 monthly season tickets for class II and class I passengers respectively, which will allow suburban passengers to travel all across suburban network.

Of the total 80 lakh passengers in Mumbai, 70% are season-ticket holders, while 80% are Class II commuters. Commuters will be charged to travel within zone or interzone similar to developed countries.