New Delhi: Indian Railways on Thursday denied reports of extra fares being levied from passengers saying that the fare of Festival trains has been kept higher since 2015 and "nothing new" has been done this year.
A section of media reported that Indian Railways has hiked the fares of sleeper class to 3AC coaches by Rs 500.
Calling such media reports 'misleading', the Ministry of Railways clarified, "Festival/holiday special trains were started as per the long-standing practice to clear the rush. This year has been pent up demand for many sectors on which the festival trains were running. These festival trains have been continued to clear the rush."
It further added, "The fare for such trains has been kept little higher since 2015. Nothing new is being done this year. This is an established practice."
Railways also asserted that the passenger operations have always been subsidized even during the challenging circumstances of COVID-19, by taking care that the passengers bear the least burden while travelling in trains.
READ: Trump amends order to address threat from securities investment in Chinese military companies
"In all trains that are being run, besides other classes, the trains have a large number of 2S class coaches which has the lowest fare in the reserved category. 40 per cent of the passengers have travelled inn2S class in much better travelling conditions than pre covid, unreserved travelling situation. As per the policy, 2S passengers, evening special case are not charged more than additional Rs 15," explained the Ministry.
As Indian Railways is constantly increasing the number of trains in a graded manner, the Ministry said that full restoration of regular services will be considered keeping in view a range of factors and operational circumstances.
Total 1058 Mail/Express trains, 4807 suburban services and 188 passenger trains are presently in operation on daily basis.
"Even during challenging times of COVID, Indian Railways has operationalized almost 60% of the Mail/Express trains are compared to the pre lockdown times. 77 percent of these special trains have fares for regular trains. Around 250 trains daily are running as trains with special fares," the statement said.
