The Indian Railways is planning to reduce the fares of short-distance trains, registering low occupancy. It is doing so to make the fares more feasible for people, a report by the Hindustan Times said.
Low occupancy in Vande Bharat trains
An official aware of the development told HT that fares of trains on the Indore-Bhopal, Bhopal-Jabalpur, Nagpur-Bilaspur routes, along with a few others are under review. The rates are being reduced to attract more passengers. The official further said that the Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat routes recorded 29% occupancy in June and the return route had an occupancy of 21%.
Even the Nagpur-Bilaspur train, having a travel time of nearly 5 hours and 30 minutes recorded an average occupancy of 55% and Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat train registered an occupancy of 32%.
Fares of the trains at present
Here is a look at the price of the current prices of the trains that have been mentioned above.
Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat Express
The Indore-Bhopal Vande Bharat train has a travel time of 3 hours 5 minutes. An Executive Chair Car ticket on this train will cost the passengers Rs 1,510, while and AC Chair Car ticket will come around Rs 810.
A return journey will see the fare surge to Rs 1,600 for Executive Chair Car and Rs 910 for AC Chair Car.
Bhopal-Jabalpur Vande Bharat Express
This train makes its journey in 4 hours 35 minutes. Its Executive Chair Car Ticket price has been set at Rs 1,880, while a AC Chair Car ticket will cost Rs 1,055.
The return journey sees a little price difference. An Executive Chair Car ticket has been priced at Rs 1,790, while the AC Chair Car ticket will come around Rs 955.
Nagpur-Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express
An Executive Chair Car ride on this train will cost the passengers Rs 2,240, while they will have to shell out Rs 1,240. The train covers its journey in 5 hours 30 minutes.
While on their back passengers will have to pay Rs 2,045 for the Executive Chair Car and Rs 1,075 for the AC Chair Car.
Vande Bharat trains seeing good occupancy
The Vande Bharat trains which have been seeing good occupancy rate include Kasaragod-Trivandrum train which has a 183% occupancy rate with its return leg having 176% occupancy. Varanasi-New Delhi express has 128% occupancy and the return journey has seen 124% occupancy.
As the country sees the launch of new trains every other month, it is crucial to see how these trains are welcomed by the people and how successful they are in the long run.