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Kolkata: Indian Railways has raised fares in certain categories of train journeys. The Railways stated the details of the revisions in a social media post. Interestingly, Indian Railways carry more than 700 crore passengers or more than 85% of the world’s population, every year, say reports. It is understandable from this single piece of statistic what a huge population will be impacted if Indian Railways hikes fares.

The changes are being implemented from July 1. “Basic fare of trains will change from 1st July! Which classes will be affected? Do know before travelling,” wrote the Railways in its social media post on X (@RailMinIndia). Let’s find out who will be paying more from today. Reports state that the fares were last revised five years ago.

Are local/suburban train fares rising?

By any account, most passengers travel by suburban trains, or which are known as local trains. These trains connect important urban agglomerations with their neighbourhood and millions of passengers travel by these trains mostly to and from their places of work. There has been no change in these fares, Railways have stated. This will leave all daily passengers unaffected. There has been no change in either single journey tickets or multiple ride tickets popularly known as season or monthly tickets. Moreover, there has been no change in the fares of general trains up to 500 kms.

Which train fares are rising?

Only if you travel more than 500 km will you need to pay a higher fare. For general trains, the rate of rise is by 0.5 paise per km. The Railways have also said that the rate of rise in passenger ticket fares is the following:
501-1,500 km: Rise by Rs 5
1,501-2,500 km: Rise by Rs 10
2,501-3,000 km: Rise by Rs 15

For the mail and express trains (non AC), one has to pay 1 paise/km more for second class and first class tickets. For AC chair, AC 3 tier, Ac 2 tier and AC first class tickets will cost 2 paise per km more, the Railways post said. It also clarified that the fares of Vande Bharat, Rajdhani, Tejas and Humsafar trains will rise in the above manner. There will be no change is other charges such as reservation charges.