Passengers buying Tatkal tickets during the festive season for the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani and 80 other premium trains will need to dig deeper into their pockets starting Friday.
The Railways said on Thursday that half of all Tatkal tickets on these trains would be put under the dynamic pricing system, effectively announcing a partial hike in passenger fares.
Under the new system, if the demand for Tatkal tickets goes up, their prices would proportionately increase.
The other 50% Tatkal tickets would be sold at existing rates. This system will be applicable in approximately 80 premier trains and at least five trains in each of the 17 Railway zones.
Under the Tatkal scheme, passengers can book tickets, over the counter or on the internet, 24 hours before a train is scheduled to depart.
Besides the two Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhanis, trains falling under the new mechanism will include the Ahmedabad-New Delhi Swarn Jayanti Rajdhani Express, the Bandra-Amritsar Paschim Express, the Mumbai-Amritsar Golden Temple Mail, the Bandra-Jodhpur Suryanagari Express and the New Delhi-Darbangha Swantrata Senani Express.
The move is aimed at cutting the public transporter’s losses in passenger earnings that zoomed to Rs 25,000 crore this fiscal year. A decrease in international diesel rates had also led to the possibility of passenger fare reduction through adjustment of the Fuel Adjustment Component, due this month. Revenue earned from freight continue to subsidise passenger fares.
Tatkal prices were last hiked in April 2013. On June 25, railways minister DV Sadananda Gowda announced a hike of 14.2% in passenger fares across the board.
{{/usCountry}}Tatkal prices were last hiked in April 2013. On June 25, railways minister DV Sadananda Gowda announced a hike of 14.2% in passenger fares across the board.
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