Indian Railways set to come up with new 'Flexi-fare' scheme
What's the story
Indian Railways is all set to come up with a revised Flexi-fare scheme next month to bring in some relief for passengers, who in some sectors pay as much as airfares for the premium trains, sources said. They said Ministry is planning to suspend the scheme temporarily as an experiment during lean months in some trains as they're seeing occupancy as low as 30%.
Special discounts
Railways may bring in special discounts in less busy routes
Sources said another option being considered is revising the scheme as per a formula used in Humsafar trains in which the first 50% berths will be sold at a 15% higher price than the base price. The slab will change with every 10% of the berth sold thereafter. The government is also mulling options to bring in special discounts on less busy routes.
Flexi-fare prices
CAG report came down hard on Railways for Flexi-fare prices
Final shape for the scheme will be announced by next week, an official said as its removal would also lead to refunds for advance bookings. A CAG report had come down hard on Railways for Flexi-fare prices and it stated a comparison with airfare for 13 sectors showed that traveling in airplane was cheaper than in train for a large number of routes.
Information
Premium trains carried 2.40 crore passengers during post-Flexi period
In terms of absolute numbers, the premium trains carried 2.40cr passengers during the post-Flexi period (September 9, 2016, to July 31, 2017) as compared to 2.47cr passengers during the pre-Flexi period (September 9, 2015, to July 31, 2016), said the CAG in its report.