Vande Bharat fare will be reduced? Sources told which railways is reviewing the fair of trains

Ministry of Railways is considering to reduce the fare of some routes of Vande Bharat Express, a semi-high speed train started with the objective of facilitating rail travel of people and saving time. The Ministry is reviewing the routes on which fewer passengers are using due to higher fares. According to government sources, most of the services of this semi-high speed train are running fully loaded, barring a few such trains with low occupancy as per official figures. Sources said that along with Vande Bharat trains like Indore-Bhopal, Bhopal-Jabalpur and Nagpur-Bilaspur Express, some other trains are also likely to fall in this category.

Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat service recorded only 29 percent occupancy in June

The Bhopal-Indore Vande Bharat service recorded only 29 per cent occupancy in June, while the Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat Express had only 21 per cent occupancy in the return journey, PTI reported. The journey between the two cities takes around three hours and costs Rs 950 for an AC chair car ticket and Rs 1525 for an executive chair car per passenger. Sources told that the fare of this train can be reduced considerably.

Reduction in fares of short distance trains is certain

The longest journey of Vande Bharat Express trains is around 10 hours and the shortest journey is around three hours. Railway department wants all Vande Bharat trains to work towards increasing passenger convenience. The department has reviewed the situation and found that the performance of some Vande Bharat trains, which travel for short duration between two to five hours, would improve if their fares were reduced. Then more and more people will use these trains.

Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express fares may increase due to reduction in passengers

A senior official said, “Most Vande Bharat trains are running with 100 per cent passengers, but some are not and we are making necessary changes to ensure that.” Another train whose fare is under review is the Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express. Its average occupancy is around 55 percent. With a journey time of around 5 hours 30 minutes, it is believed that it would be much better if the prices were reduced. The fare for Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express is Rs 2,045 for executive class while Rs 1,075 for chair car. This train was replaced by Tejas Express in May due to low occupancy.

Sources said Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express has 32 per cent seat occupancy, while Jabalpur-Bhopal Vande Bharat service has 36 per cent occupancy in the return journey, so there is a possibility of a fare cut. The fare for an AC chair car ticket from Bhopal to Jabalpur is Rs 1055, while an executive chair car ticket costs Rs 1880 for the four-and-a-half-hour journey between the two cities. The return fare for AC chair car is Rs 955 and for executive chair car is Rs 1790.

Till now 46 Vande Bharat Express trains are running

So far 46 Vande Bharat Express services have reached all rail-electrified states of the country. Covering a total of 24 States and Union Territories, the Vande Bharat Express fleet is growing steadily due to its time-saving feature, which saves an average of one hour compared to other trains.

Vande Bharat trains with top occupancy include Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram train best performing Vande Bharat Express (183%), Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod Vande Bharat train (176%), Gandhinagar-Mumbai Central Vande Bharat Express (134%). percent), Mumbai Central-Gandhinagar Vande Bharat Express (129 percent), Varanasi-New Delhi Vande Bharat Express (128 percent), New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express (124 percent), Dehradun-Amritsar Vande Bharat Express (105 percent) , Mumbai-Sholapur Vande Bharat Express (111 per cent), Solapur-Mumbai Vande Bharat Express (104 per cent).