NEW DELHI: A day after announcing surge pricing in premier trains, Ministry of Railways Thursday said that the flexi pricing decision has been done on an experimental basis and it will be reviewed after some time.
Railway announced to introduce flexi pricing increasing fare by 50 percent in -- Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi – from September 9 was criticized by political parties and common people.
"We have introduced the dynamic fare system on an experimental basis. We will review it after some time and see what necessary measures can be taken further," said Chairman Railway Board A K Mital.
Under the new formula, base fares would increase from 10 percent to 50 percent with every 10 percent of berths booked. Railway is expecting to earn Rs 500 crore in current financial year from new fare structure.
Defending the move, Railway Board Member (Traffic) Mohd Jamshed said train travel is still the cheaper mode of transport in the country compared to air or road.
"At present, we are facing the loss of Rs 33,000 crore in the passenger segment as we charge 36 paisa for one km of travel. We are spending Rs 1800 crore in passenger amenities by improving platform area, installing lifts, water vending machines and many more such facilities," said Jamshed.
There will be no change in the existing fare First AC and Executive Class travel in premier trains as these have been exempted from the flexi fare system.