After CAG voices fear, govt says Indian Railways not losing out to airlines

Is Indian Railways losing out to airlines? Well, the popular perception is that passengers are developing a preference for airlines over trains on account of rising rail fares and falling airfares. However, Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways claims otherwise.

Indian Railways is not comparable with airlines, he told Lok Sabha on Wednesday and also denied that the national transporter was losing passengers because of the high fares the transporter charges. 

Fares of trains may or may not be higher than airfares, he said, adding that the two are different modes of transport.

"It is the choice of the passenger to opt for either railway or airlines for travelling. Further, the fares on airlines between same origin-destination are different in different airlines as well as in different services during the day in the same airlines. Hence, fares of Indian Railways are not comparable with airlines," he said.

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This was seemingly in response to a sharp criticism by the CAG. Earlier this week, a Comptroller and Auditor General Report had criticised the Indian Railways over its flexi-fare scheme and said that a comparison with airfare for 13 sectors showed that travelling in an aeroplane was cheaper than in train for a large number of routes and that passengers on trains had fallen disconcertingly. 

When compared to the cost and time taken for travel by premium trains, airlines became a cheaper and preferable mode of travel, the auditor had said.