Indian Railways may slash fares of Shatabdi trains by up to 30% from July 1

Highlights: 

1. Indian Railways may reduce fares of Shatabdi trains on some routes by up to 30% by July 1  

2. Fares of Shatabdi trains are likely to be reduced to an extent that it comes below to the AC Bus fares

In  a move fill up the vacant seats and increase railways revenues, Indian Railways is likely to slash fares of Shatabdi trains by up to 30% on several routes by July 1 this year, Zee Business Sameer Dixit reported. 

The report said that Indian Railways will reduce the fares of the last mile stretch of Shatabdi trains.

The fares of Shatabdi trains are likely to be reduced to an extent that it comes below to the AC Bus fares on the same routes, it said.

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The report citing the sources from Indian Railways' further said that it was recorded and observed that in the last mile stretch, large number of seats in Shatabdi were vacant thus resulting in revenue loss. 

Therefore, to fill up the vacant seats and get a revenue, this innovative method is soon to be adopted by Indian Railways where last mile stretch of Shatabdi will see a reduction in fares, it said.

Indian Railways had adopted and experimented this fare reduction move on Shatabdi trains on Delhi-Ajmer route wherein it noticed that Jaipur- Ajmer stretch had less number of passengers and occupancy was as low as 40%. Therefore, it reduced the fares in this stretch by 30% and fixed the fares at Jaipur-Ajmer route to Rs 300 wherein fares of AC Buses are Rs 400.

After slashing fares of Shatabdi trains on Jaipur-Ajmer route, the revenue of Indian Railways jumped by almost 20 to 30% in this stretch in the first month itself and presently the revenue is close to 100%, the report said. Earlier the Shatabdi fares for the same stretch was Rs 450.

Indian Railways is likely to replicate this model on Shatabdi trains operating on following routes:

1. Jaipur - Agra Fort Shatabdi
2. New Delhi- Ludhiana Shatabdi
3. Moga - Ludhiana Shatabdi
4. New Delhi- Bhatinda Shatabdi
5. Agra - Puri Shatabdi
6. Kalka - Ambala Shatabdi

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