Upper class rail fares may not be cut for now

NEW DELHI: Upper class railway fares may not be slashed, at least not for now.
Rail Bhawan sources say that the impact of the fare war unleashed by airline companies about a week ago has been negligible on railway reservations to warrant an immediate cut in fares on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
However, it has just been about 10 days since the price war was unleashed by Jet Air and Indian Airlines and railway ministry sources said that they are still studying the data flowing in from the passenger reservation system (PRS).
Data flowing in from the PRS would be reviewed regularly before a final decision is taken, they said.
The lower fares announced by the airlines on certain sectors are almost on par with those charged by the railways. For instance, on the Delhi-Chennai sector, the apex airfare is about Rs 3,300, almost as much as a trip by air-conditioned second class (2AC) on the Rajdhani Express.
Similarly, on the Delhi-Kolkata sector, the apex airfare is around Rs 2,900, while the 2AC rail fare is just about Rs 300 less. On other busy sectors, particularly, Delhi-Mumbai, the airfare reigns much higher than the 2AC fare. The apex fare is about Rs 3,920, while a trip by the 2AC on Rajdhani costs under Rs 2,500.
Air-conditioned first class fares are, however, higher than the apex fares announced by these airlines. But most Rajdhani’s have only a single 1AC coach attached.
Though Rail Bhawan sources admitted that fares on the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains are on the higher side, they said that there was no urgent need to cut fares in reaction to the reduced airfare. It is also not yet clear if a 5-10 per cent cut would increase passenger traffic on Rajdhani trains.
In recent years, several Rajdhani trains were running with low occupancy levels. One view emerging in the Rail Bhawan is that reduced fares, or at least flexible fares, may help attracting more passengers.
The railways earned Rs 175.70 crore from 1AC on all trains, Rs 1,001 crore from 2AC, Rs 665 crore from 3AC and Rs 280 crore from AC chair cars during ’01-02.
Shatabdi trains have only chair car coaches, while Rajdhanis have a combination of 1AC, 2AC, 3AC and chair cars. The railways’ total non-suburban passenger earnings in the last financial year was Rs 9,392 crore, of which air-conditioned classes contributed 22.6 per cent.
Rajdhani trains operate on 16 routes, while Shatabdis operate on 14 routes. Though exact break up of earnings from these two trains could not be obtained, Rail Bhawan sources say, it would be about 2 per cent of passenger earnings.