CHENNAI: Just a few months after converting passenger and local trains into 'express' ones and withdrawing fare concessions for senior citizens, the railways has dropped another bombshell, ordering for the composition of trains to be standardised. This means each train will have only two sleeper coaches.
As a result, fares for express trains (including Pandiyan, Pearl City, Rockfort, Cholan, Podhigai and Nilgiri) that have LHB rakes will go up as more passengers would have to opt for AC coaches. For instance, an AC three-tier berth is Rs 500 more expensive than a sleeper class berth on the Chennai-Madurai section.
All sleeper coaches but two on long-distance trains with LHB rakes will be replaced with AC coaches (tier one, two, and three), as per a directive issued by the Railway Board to the Southern Railway and other zones on June 6.
The board, the apex body of the railways, also capped the number of AC three-tier coaches at 10, two-tier at four, and first-class at one. For exemptions, the zonal railways should submit a detailed justification, said the order, which comes against the backdrop of the railways’ plan to operate long-distance trains at 130 kmph without non-AC coaches. The maximum permitted speed of trains is presently 110 kmph.
Steps being taken to make train travel an elite service like flying: Association
Each LHB sleeper coach has 78 berths. Once the composition changes, the number of sleeper berths per train will drop to 156 from the present number of 546 to 780.
A top official from the transportation branch (coaching) of the Southern Railway maintained that no train has been identified for revising the composition yet. It is learnt that the trains proposed to be operated at 130 kmph on select routes may get the revised composition in a few months.
In 2018, the railways proposed to increase the speed of trains covering the golden quadrilateral (Delhi-Mumbai-Kolkata-Chennai) and its diagonal routes to 130 kmph. After an inordinate delay, the work to upgrade the tracks is understood to have gained momentum after the railways decided to let private players operate their network.
Express trains had 12-13 sleeper coaches (864-936 berths) when they were operated with conventional ICF rakes. After the rakes were converted to LHB, the number of sleeper coaches was reduced to seven (546 berths) on the Pandiyan, Rockfort and Cholan Express, and 10 (780 berths) on the Pearl City, Podhigai, Nilgiri and Kanyakumari Express.
Such steps will gradually make train transportation an "elite" service like flights, said G Aravind Kumar, secretary, Nagai District Consumer Protection and Passenger Association.
"The railways says it has not increased fares, but the ticket cost rose from Rs 30 to 60 for travelling from Nagapattinam to Tiruchy after the passenger train was converted into an express service. The minimum fare to travel five km from Nagapattinam to Sikkal is now Rs 30, while it used to be Rs 10. The sleeper-class fare to Chennai from Nagapattinam is Rs 225. We will be forced to pay three times (`650) for AC three-tier," he added.
A CAG report in 2019 and other documents, including committees constituted by the railways in the past, pointed out that the national transporter registers profits only by operating AC three-tier coaches.
Naina Masilamani, member of the Divisional Railway User's Consultative Committee, Chennai, said, "This is an ill-conceived idea towards transforming the railways into a commercial organisation from a service sector. After passenger and express trains, the railways may hike fares for suburban services. What happened to the proposals to enhance earnings by leasing railway land?"
A railway official said, "In a few sections, depending on demand, the composition has been altered, increasing the number of AC three-tier coaches."