INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The railways has finally decided to substantially revise its flexi-fare policy after two years of indecision, with the file now awaiting the
passengers who, under the scheme, sometimes have to pay at par with flight tickets in some sectors for trains
The relief, however, will be in select premium trains which have seen a substantial decrease in passenger bookings, the sources said.These
trains, sources have indicated are likely to be from the Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh routes, which are the high density network of
However, officials are not keen to share particulars of the revised flexi-fare scheme as despite the approval of both the Railway Board as
well as the Finance Commissioner, sections could still be further revised if they are not approved by Goyal
Sources in Goyal's office indicated that the decision will be taken soon."It can only be final if it is approved by the minister
He could decide to waive it from all trains rather than from select ones
There have been suggestions made by a committee earlier which have been approved by the board, which can be rejected by the minister
So, one needs to wait for the final approval," said a senior official involved in the process.On the direction of Goyal, the railways had
constituted a committee last year to review the dynamic pricing scheme, but its report was rejected by him
Sources said this time, many of the provisions made in the committee's report have been tweaked and approved by the board and have been
seasons, according to 'last minute bookings', rate of occupancy, patronisation of trains and their timings
Competitive pricing will also be key to generate revenue for the scheme, which had earned the national transporter an additional Rs 500
crore in less than a year.The scheme was introduced for 44 Rajdhani, 46 Shatabdi and 52 Duronto trains - all in premium super-fast category
The scheme which was launched on September 9, 2016, had led to up to 50 per cent increase in fares and under the formula, base fares
TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
