CHENNAI: Fares collected by Railways are two and a half to three times higher this Pongal than usual fares during the festival season.
Omnibuses already charge Rs 600 to Rs 1700 more per ticket than regular fares from Chennai to Madurai, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi. However, in Suvidha trains, a 3rd AC ticket from Chennai to Tirunelveli on Sunday or Monday cost Rs 3,850.
This is Rs 500 more than a flight fare to Thoothukudi. The usual fare for a 3rd AC ticket is Rs 1,005.
Even, sleeper class fare in a Suvidha train touched a whopping Rs 1,445 against the regular fare of Rs 385.
In March 2016, with a view of increasing revenue, Railways gave up the policy of operating special trains at regular fares. Since then only special fare special trains or Suvidha trains are operated to clear extra rush. While special fare trains charge 30 per cent more than the base fare, Suvidha trains use dynamic pricing.
The first 20 per cent of tickets are charged at base rate + tatkal charge (a minimum of Rs 100 for sleeper class and Rs 200 for AC class) and the next 20 per cent of tickets are priced at 1.5 times of base rate + tatkal charge and so on. For the last 20 per cent of tickets, passengers are charged 300 per cent over the regular fare along with tatkal charge.
This has put passengers to hardship. Of the five special trains operated from Chennai to Tirunelveli/Nagercoil from January 10 to 20, four are Suvidhas. P Edward Jeni, general secretary of Kanniyakumari district railway users’ association, said this was a prelude to handing over high-demand sections to private companies.