<p>Travelling by train will become dearer from January 21 as Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday announced an across-the-board hike in fares ranging between four and 34 per cent. <br /><br />Effected after a gap of 10 years, the increase, introduced on the basis of per kilometre journey, will affect long distance travel the most. The travel expenses in local trains in metro cities will also go up. The minister, however, did not hike freight rates. <br /><br /> The fare increase, being seen as the ruling coalition government’s move to go ahead with its reform agenda, has even touched the second class ordinary passenger fare, a category hitherto spared by all the successive governments. The hike announced for this category has been 2 paise per kilometre for second class suburban and 3 paise for non-suburban. For mail and express trains, it will be 4 paise per km.<br /><br /></p>.<p><br /><object><br /><param /><br /><param /><br /><br /></object><br /><br />The sleeper class fare would be 6 paise more on per kilometre travel, AC chair car 10 paise, AC 3-Tier 10 paise, First Class 03 paise, AC2-Tier 06 paise and AC First Class 10 paise on per kilometre travel. Fares of First class, AC-2 and AC-1 had been increased in the last budget by 10, 15 and 30 paise respectively. <br /><br />The increase for the second class ordinary would be from 16 per cent to 27 per cent according to the distance travelled. The travel cost in sleeper class category in mail and express trains will be around 15 to 34 per cent more while for AC-3 around 8 to 12 per cent.<br /><br />The increase for second AC-2 is to the tune of 4 per cent and 8 per cent and for AC-1, the hike would be 3 to 7 per cent.<br /><br />A passenger travelling by sleeper class from Bangalore to Mysore will have to pay Rs 128.34 as against the existing fare of Rs 120 while the second class travel from Bangalore to Mysore woill cost Rs 7 more. The passenger will have to pay Rs 50 instead of existing fare of Rs 43. If the passenger has to travel to New Delhi from Bangalore, his travel cost would increase by Rs 144 by sleeper class. The First class AC passenger will have to pay Rs 240 more for his travel to the capital and Second AC passenger Rs 144 more. An AC Three Tier ticket on a Rajdhani Express between New Delhi and Ernaculum, which used to cost Rs 1,804, will now come at Rs 2,156, a hike of Rs 352. A New Delhi-Patna Sleeper Class ticket will now cost Rs 385, a hike of Rs 66. Similarly, Sleeper Class travel in a Mail/Express train between New Delhi and Mumbai Central will cost Rs 465, a hike of Rs 87. An Express Train Sleeper Class ticket between New Delhi and Howrah (via Gaya) will now come at Rs 475, following a hike of Rs 89. While announcing the fare hike, Bansal assured that no passenger fare hike would be proposed in the coming budget. <br /><br />No increase in platform ticket has been done and all fares will be chargeable on the multiples of Rs 5. </p>
<p>Travelling by train will become dearer from January 21 as Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday announced an across-the-board hike in fares ranging between four and 34 per cent. <br /><br />Effected after a gap of 10 years, the increase, introduced on the basis of per kilometre journey, will affect long distance travel the most. The travel expenses in local trains in metro cities will also go up. The minister, however, did not hike freight rates. <br /><br /> The fare increase, being seen as the ruling coalition government’s move to go ahead with its reform agenda, has even touched the second class ordinary passenger fare, a category hitherto spared by all the successive governments. The hike announced for this category has been 2 paise per kilometre for second class suburban and 3 paise for non-suburban. For mail and express trains, it will be 4 paise per km.<br /><br /></p>.<p><br /><object><br /><param /><br /><param /><br /><br /></object><br /><br />The sleeper class fare would be 6 paise more on per kilometre travel, AC chair car 10 paise, AC 3-Tier 10 paise, First Class 03 paise, AC2-Tier 06 paise and AC First Class 10 paise on per kilometre travel. Fares of First class, AC-2 and AC-1 had been increased in the last budget by 10, 15 and 30 paise respectively. <br /><br />The increase for the second class ordinary would be from 16 per cent to 27 per cent according to the distance travelled. The travel cost in sleeper class category in mail and express trains will be around 15 to 34 per cent more while for AC-3 around 8 to 12 per cent.<br /><br />The increase for second AC-2 is to the tune of 4 per cent and 8 per cent and for AC-1, the hike would be 3 to 7 per cent.<br /><br />A passenger travelling by sleeper class from Bangalore to Mysore will have to pay Rs 128.34 as against the existing fare of Rs 120 while the second class travel from Bangalore to Mysore woill cost Rs 7 more. The passenger will have to pay Rs 50 instead of existing fare of Rs 43. If the passenger has to travel to New Delhi from Bangalore, his travel cost would increase by Rs 144 by sleeper class. The First class AC passenger will have to pay Rs 240 more for his travel to the capital and Second AC passenger Rs 144 more. An AC Three Tier ticket on a Rajdhani Express between New Delhi and Ernaculum, which used to cost Rs 1,804, will now come at Rs 2,156, a hike of Rs 352. A New Delhi-Patna Sleeper Class ticket will now cost Rs 385, a hike of Rs 66. Similarly, Sleeper Class travel in a Mail/Express train between New Delhi and Mumbai Central will cost Rs 465, a hike of Rs 87. An Express Train Sleeper Class ticket between New Delhi and Howrah (via Gaya) will now come at Rs 475, following a hike of Rs 89. While announcing the fare hike, Bansal assured that no passenger fare hike would be proposed in the coming budget. <br /><br />No increase in platform ticket has been done and all fares will be chargeable on the multiples of Rs 5. </p>
