NEW DELHI: Even as a parliamentary standing committee criticised Indian Railways for charging more than airfare in premium trains without improvement in services, Railways Tuesday said that there are no plans to reverse the flexi fare system.
According to sources, the flexi fare was introduced in only 168 premium trains of the nearly 12,000 passenger trains runs and it is unlikely to be taken back. The scheme came into was introduced on September 9, 2016 in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains. During the financial year 2016-17 (September to March), 2017-18 and 2018-19 (April to June), the Railways earned approximately Rs 371 crore, Rs 860 crore and Rs 262 crore, respectively, as additional earnings.
Railway Board had constituted a committee in December 2017 to review the flexi fare and how it affected the passengers and railways revenue. The committee submitted its report but it was sent back for further changes.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal is yet to take a final call on the revised reports. There have been concerns as the scheme brought down occupancy in premium trains, even as fare in some sectors surpassed air fares.
Now, railway has decided to provide some special services to passengers in these premium trains. With punctuality of train taking a hit in last one year, it has been planned that locomotive in all premium trains will be fitted with GPS enables device to track their exact location. The punctuality fell to 55 per cent in April but has improved to 73 per cent in August.
"The GPS device will ensure that these trains run on time and we will know that where they are held up and concerned division will be taken to task," said railway sources. The tender for acquiring these devices will soon be brought out by railways. Further to improve the punctuality of trains, it has been decided that in next five years doubling will be completed in all sections.