Travelling on Shatabdi trains will soon become cheaper as the Railways is planning to slash the fares of these premium trains on some routes. The decision has been taken considering the fact that many of these trains fail to get 100 per cent occupancy. The Railways has also taken note of the fact that a large number of AC buses also operate on these routes and give a tough competition to its passenger traffic.
Pertinently, last year, the Railways had on experimental basis reduced the fares of two Shatabdi trains — one operating Mysore-Bangalore route and another between Ajmer and Jaipur. A senior railway official confirmed the move and told DNA, "Reducing the fares of some Shatabdi express trains on certain routes is likely to make the occupancy of these trains jump to 100 per cent. We reduced the fares of two Shatabdi trains last year and the experiment was hugely successful. These trains had earlier berths going "unreserved" but now on the same routes, the trains are running upto its full capacity."
On asked about the select routes in which discounted fare is likely to be offered, the official named Ranchi-Kolkata and New Delhi-Moga routes. "The prices will be reduced by 15-30 per cent depending on the viability of these routes. They will be brought on par with the highest class of public transport by road," said the official, on condition of anonymity.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had earlier said all possibilities were being explored to ensure that train seats/berths don't go "unreserved". Prabhu had reportedly said, "Why only increase the fare. You can decrease it as well when there's no demand. Fixed cost will be incurred on that train anyway even when the berths are going empty."
Shatabdi Express is one of the premium trains in which flexi fare system is also applicable. The Railways introduced the flexi fare system for premium trains in September 2016. According to dynamic pricing system, only 10 per cent of the seats are sold at normal fares while prices increase by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold, with a ceiling of 50 per cent.
