GUWAHATI,
Feb 17 – At least two routes to and from Assam are likely to be among the 20-odd sectors where the Indian Railways is expected to operate its new generation of superfast trains with dynamic fares.
Sources said the Delhi-Kamakhya and Chennai-Kamakhya routes are among those being considered across the country for introduction of the new model, which is expected to be rolled out nationwide soon.
It is noteworthy that the Indian Railways operated the new dynamic fare trains on an experimental basis in the Delhi-Mumbai segment during the Christmas-New Year season in December-January.
“The new model is intended to take care of ticket demand in major routes and also provide hassle-free and timely service to passengers,” said an official.
Besides, it is being developed for boosting the Railways’ revenue at a time when earnings from freight service is under strain due to the economic downturn.
The trains with dynamic fares are modeled on airline flights. The price of tickets would vary according to the time of booking and the closer the ticket is to the date of the train departure, the more the price would be.
Besides, the concept is one where the trains will have only technical stops and no commercial stoppages between the departure and arrival points.
As per the model currently proposed, such tickets would be only sold online and cannot be cancelled.
Normal ticket prices are likely to be more than current rates in Rajdhani Tier II or Tier III.
"But for passengers who do not want to endure uncertainty of regular tickets being confirmed from waiting list or those in a hurry, the model would be a win-win," the official said.
Presenting the Interim Rail Budget 2014 in Parliament last week, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge had said that dynamic pricing was widely appreciated by the users in New Delhi-Mumbai route and resulted in earnings increase of about 48 per cent as compared to Rajdhani services on the same sector.
The minister had said that Indian Railways’ is considering operation of this scheme on larger scale.
Feb 17 – At least two routes to and from Assam are likely to be among the 20-odd sectors where the Indian Railways is expected to operate its new generation of superfast trains with dynamic fares.
Sources said the Delhi-Kamakhya and Chennai-Kamakhya routes are among those being considered across the country for introduction of the new model, which is expected to be rolled out nationwide soon.
It is noteworthy that the Indian Railways operated the new dynamic fare trains on an experimental basis in the Delhi-Mumbai segment during the Christmas-New Year season in December-January.
“The new model is intended to take care of ticket demand in major routes and also provide hassle-free and timely service to passengers,” said an official.
Besides, it is being developed for boosting the Railways’ revenue at a time when earnings from freight service is under strain due to the economic downturn.
The trains with dynamic fares are modeled on airline flights. The price of tickets would vary according to the time of booking and the closer the ticket is to the date of the train departure, the more the price would be.
Besides, the concept is one where the trains will have only technical stops and no commercial stoppages between the departure and arrival points.
As per the model currently proposed, such tickets would be only sold online and cannot be cancelled.
Normal ticket prices are likely to be more than current rates in Rajdhani Tier II or Tier III.
"But for passengers who do not want to endure uncertainty of regular tickets being confirmed from waiting list or those in a hurry, the model would be a win-win," the official said.
Presenting the Interim Rail Budget 2014 in Parliament last week, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge had said that dynamic pricing was widely appreciated by the users in New Delhi-Mumbai route and resulted in earnings increase of about 48 per cent as compared to Rajdhani services on the same sector.
The minister had said that Indian Railways’ is considering operation of this scheme on larger scale.
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