Indian Railways has said the fare of the new economy class of air-conditioned will be 8% less than AC 3-tier.
"The fares for Economy AC-3 are 8% less compared to the existing AC 3 tier class," Rajesh Dutt Bajpai, Executive Director (Information and Publicity) at Ministry of Railways said.
New economy class in the trains has been introduced with premium features to provide comfortable journey to passengers, said the Railways. "New-Economy AC coaches will be introduced in express/ mail trains by replacing sleeper coaches. However, existing 3-AC coaches will continue to exist," said the Railways official.
Already 50 new economy AC-3 tier coaches given to different zonal railways. Now since the fare is fixed, these coaches will be attached to existing mail express trains, Bajpai said.
"The new class of travel will usher an era of affordable air-conditioned travel with premium features. As production picks up these new coaches will be attached in various Mail/Express and Superfast trains," he added.
The first Economy AC-3 tier coach will be fitted in the special train 2403/04 Prayagraj-Jaipur Express under the North Central Railway and will start running from September.
As per a circular from the Ministry of Railways, passengers opting for berths in the new Economy AC 3 tier coaches will have to pay 2.4 times the base fare of the sleeper travel in Mail/Express trains. The base fare for up to 300 kilometres of travel will be Rs 440 and will go up as distance increases. The base fare for the maximum distance slab of 4951-5000 kms will be Rs 3065. Other charges such as reservation fee, superfast charge, GST as applicable for AC3 classes will be levied separately.
In the new coaches, several design improvements have also been made to enhancing passenger comfort like redesigning the AC ducting to provide individual vents for each berth.
The coach also has improved and modular design of seats and berths, foldable snack tables in both longitudinal and transverse bays, injury-free spaces and holders for water bottles, mobile phones and magazines, the Railways said.
The design of both Indian and Western-style lavatories have improved and public address and passenger information systems have been installed in coaches. Reading lights and mobile charging points are provided for each berth in addition to the standard socket, the Railways said.
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