Indian Railways announces nationwide fare hike
Heads up if you travel by train—Indian Railways is increasing fares for long-distance second-class tickets starting July 1, 2025.
It's the first price bump since 2020: AC classes will cost two paise more per kilometer, and non-AC coaches go up by one paisa.
Short trips under 500km stay the same.
Hike covers all major trains
If your journey is over 500km in second class, expect a small extra charge of 0.5 paise per kilometer.
Suburban trains and monthly passes (MSTs) aren't affected.
The hike covers all major trains—think Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Vande Bharat, and Tejas.
Ticket booking will also get stricter
Booking tickets will get stricter and faster too. From July 1, Tatkal bookings need Aadhaar verification; OTP authentication kicks in from July 15.
Reservation charts will now close eight hours before departure instead of four.
By December, a new system aims to handle five times more bookings—up to 1.5 lakh tickets per minute—so snagging seats should get easier!