Train travel to cost more as Railways plans to levy special fee

The railway tickets for stations that are under redevlopment are likely to see a hike since the Railway Ministry on Saturday declared that a Station Development Fee (SDF) will be levied on the passenger tickets. The fee will vary for different classes of trains, ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 50.

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Railways has decided to levy Station Development Fee (SDF) for the development/redevelopment of stations, consequently increasing the ticket fares for boarding or alighting at such stations. This Station Development Fee (SDF) will be ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 50, and shall be collected from the passengers during their boarding and alighting at stations that are under redevelopment or maybe redeveloped in the future, as informed by the Railway Board Authorities.

The user fee would reportedly be categorized into three classes with differences in fees - the highest fee will be for all AC classes at Rs 50, for sleeper classes it will be Rs 25 and for unreserved classes, Rs 10 will be charged. However, the SDF will not be applicable for the suburban class.

"The SDF will be levied on redeveloped stations after their completion. It will therefore be levied later in time after the redevelopment of the stations is completed," a Railway Ministry official explained.

As per the latest order, the SDF shall be 50% of the rates set for different classes for the passengers who will be alighting at such stations. Whereas if the passengers are both boarding and alighting at these stations, the SDF shall be 1.5 times the applicable rate.

"On the tickets, this shall be charged under the name of Station Development Fee (SDF). This fee shall be levied in full on per passenger basis, irrespective of whether the reserved/unreserved ticket is issued to an adult or a child or against concession or against different types of warrants/vouchers fully reimbursable etc.," the notification added.

The Station Development units of Zonal Railways level will intimate to Commercial Units of Zonal Railways for stations developed/redeveloped with specific date from which SDF charges will be collected from passengers at least 120 days in advance.