Railways to cut fares of AC chair car, executive classes

New Delhi: Fares of AC chair cars and executive classes of all trains, including Vande Bharat, which have less than 50 per cent occupancy, will be reduced by up to 25 per cent, a Railway Board order has stated. The discount shall be implemented with immediate effect. The trains will also include those with Anubhuti and Vistadome coaches. The fares will depend on those of competitive modes of transport. With a view to optimising utilisation of accommodation, the rail ministry has decided to delegate powers to principal chief commercial managers of railway zones to introduce discounted fare schemes in trains with AC seating, the order said.

"This scheme shall be applicable in AC chair car and executive classes of all trains having AC seating accommodation, including Anubhuti and Vistadome coaches," it stated. "The element of discount shall be up to a maximum 25 per cent on the basic fare. Other charges like reservation charge, super fast surcharge, GST, etc, as applicable, shall be levied separately.

The discount may be provided in any or all the classes on the basis of occupancy," it said. The order further said that trains having "classes with occupancy less than 50 per cent (either end-to-end or in some specified legs/sections depending upon the sections where discount is to be provided) during the last 30 days shall be taken into consideration". Senior officials said the scheme will be applicable to Vande Bharat trains as well. Currently, barring a handful of such low occupancy trains, most of the services of this semi-high speed train are running with full occupancy, according to official data.