Suresh Prabhu, in his Railway Budget speech on Thursday, didn’t announce any increase in fares, but he seems to have factored in a steep 12% average hike in non-suburban passenger fares, going by the Budget papers, reports Bilal Abdi in New Delhi. And this needs to be effected soon to achieve the projected 12% growth in passenger receipts to
Rs 51,012 crore.
The transporter may increase fares by approximately 18% in sleeper class ordinary , 18.7% in sleeper class mail express and around 17% in AC first class. Receipts from the non-suburban segment accounts for close to half of the passenger revenue.
However, at a time when the national behemoth is witnessing a fall in passenger traffic since FY15, the prudence of the hike comes in question. Even after renewed focus on passenger amenities, the passenger volume in FY16 is estimated at 810 crore, 1.5% less than last year. The passenger volume was 840 core in FY14. Railways has budgeted passenger numbers at 8.18 billion for FY17. Passenger bookings in suburban and non-suburban sectors also saw a decline of around 2.1% in FY15 and 1.5% in FY16.
