Mumbai suburban rail services: No fare revision on cards

This comes after a flexi-fare system was introduced for Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains in September — slabs were introduced for booking tickets, of up to 50 per cent in base fares for passengers travelling in AC-II and AC-III tiers of the premium trains.

Mohammed Jamshed, Member (Traffic), Railway Board, who was in Mumbai to review the half-yearly performance of railway zones, said the scheme would be reviewed after three months. “A period of one month is too short a time to look at how the flexi-fare system is working. In the next three months, we will review the impact of this policy on passenger bookings. Meanwhile, no rationalisation of fares for the suburban system of the city is being looked at,” he said.

On introducing flexi-fare in other trains in the future, he said, “Five new brands of trains were introduced in this year’s Railway Budget namely Udaya, Antodaya, Humsafar, Tejas and Deendayaloo. Among these, at least two — Humsafar and Tejas — will have special amenities and pricing, as mentioned in the Budget.”

He said work on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor would commence next year. “The emphasis will be on completion of mega projects for which at least Rs 1.2 lakh crore is allotted each year. The aim will be to complete the Dedicated Freight Corridor lines for both eastern and western railway by December and on completion of high-speed train projects,” he said.