Rlys to mop up fuel cost from enhanced levy, says Bansal

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal Wednesday said that the increase in reservation fee and supplementary charges would help recover the loss of revenue due to increase in diesel prices.

In a chat with mediapersons here, the minister also claimed that IT solutions in ticketing will enable railways to do away with the long queues for tickets.

“According to our estimates, the increased fuel burden would be Rs 850 crore, while the hike in reservation fee and supplementary charges would fetch around Rs 880 crore,” he said.

Bansal claimed that IT solutions like ticketing through mobile phones and SMS will help prevent touts purchasing tickets in bulk and blocking it to sell it in the black market. For this, e-ticketing would be linked to ADHAAR numbers so that only persons with verified identity would be able to purchase tickets.  

This would also eliminate the need for commuters to purchase tickets four months in advance.

The Minister said the proposed Anubhuti coaches offering high class travelling experience, including ergonomically designed seats, will be available on 10 Shatabdi trains to begin with. The travel cost may be one-and-a-half times more than a first class AC ticket.