Indian Railways Claim Surge Pricing Results Are ‘Encouraging’

Indian Railways made an additional revenue of Rs 80 lakh per day on 9 and 10 September, according to an official.

The Indian Railways introduced a surge in fair pricing on Friday. Image used for representational purposes. (Photo: iStock)

On Sunday, the Indian Railways said their much spoken about surge pricing initiative has seen a positive response over the last two days.

The Railways claimed that approximately 50,000 tickets were booked at a higher fare in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Dumont trains since the initiative began on 9 September.

The results of September 9 and 10 are very encouraging. We have got good support from our passengers and think we will continue to get a similar response in the coming days as well.

Mohammad Jamshed, Railway Board Member (Traffic)

According to Jamshed, nearly 30 percent of the tickets booked on the train were under the flexi-fare category. The Railways had reportedly earned additional revenue of Rs 80 lakh per day on 9 and 10 September, which will be reinvested into providing better facilities to passengers, said Jamshed.

Responding to criticism on the Railway initiative, Jamshed pointed out that traveling by train had several benefits.

There are some solid benefits in travelling in rail – it is hassle-free, eco-friendly as the CO2 emission up in the air is damaging, door-to-door convenient, comfortable and relaxing, more destination options and you can travel with more luggage.

Mohammad Jamshed

On Friday, the Indian Railways introduced surge pricing in railway fares, increasing it up to 40 percent with every 10 percent tickets sold in the premium trains – Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto.

Source: The Hindu