GUWAHATI: In a press release issued on 15th January, the Indian Railways have clarified about the fares of special trains that are being run during the festive season.
The statement came in response to news reports that mentioned that Railways have been charging extra fares from passengers. 77% of these special trains have fares of regular trains. Around 250 trains are running daily with special fares.
Festival or Holiday special trains were started as per the long standing practice to clear the rush. As many regular trains had been stopped in 2020 due to the pandemic situation, there has been a pent-up demand on many sectors on which the festival trains were running. As such these festival trains have been continued to clear the rush.
“The fare for such trains has been kept little higher since 2015. Nothing new is being done this year. This is an established practice,” informed Subhanan Chanda, Chief Public Relations Officer.
“It may be noted that Passenger operations have always been subsidized by railways. Railways bear loss for travel by passenger. Trains have been running during Covid times in most challenging circumstances. We are running in low occupancy in many sections and still operating for public welfare," he added.
As per policy, General class (2S) passengers, even in special fare case are not charged more than additional Rs 15.
