Trains with dynamic fares feature in new Rly timetable

The railways inducted premium trains that charge airline-style flexible fares to the new Timetable.

Introduced on commercial basis in select routes last December, the premium trains have now found a regular place in the timetable that has come into effect on September 1.

 The railways have been running 29 premium trains in important routes and found them commercially successful.

The new Timetable has 138 new trains, 15 extensions and 5 increases in frequency. It also includes trains announced in the interim budget by the UPA government.

The premium Rajdhani-type trains with dynamic fares were first introduced on an experimental basis between Delhi and Mumbai.

In a dynamic fare system, passengers may have to pay in excess of the base fare if the route they choose to travel has more demand for tickets. The advanced booking period is shorter than usual and the base fare is either equal or more than the Tatkal fare. With the new timetable, the railways cover almost every important route including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. 

No waitlisted tickets are issued and there are also no refunds on the tickets, except when the railways cancel the train due to unforeseen circumstances.

The new timetable has places that remained inaccessible so far such as Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) and Itanagar (capital of Arunachal Pradesh) that feature in the railways schedule for the first time.