Lok Sabha Question No. 495 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Rationalisation of Passenger Fare and Freight Charges
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Bidyut Baran Mahato, Nama Nageswara Rao, Shrirang Appa Barne, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Sudheer Gupta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK   SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.495

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## RATIONALISATION OF PASSENGER FARE AND FREIGHT CHARGES

495.  SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI NAMA NAGESWARA RAO:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Railways proposes to augment passenger experience through  modernization  and  provision  of  improved  facilities  over trains and stations;
- (b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken in this regard;
- (c) whether the Railways is incurring losses in the passenger segment and if so, the details thereof along with the reasons for the same;
- (d) the details of norms for fixing freight charges for transportation of goods;
- (e) whether the Railways proposes to rationalize passenger fares and freight rates and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  amount  of  additional  revenue  likely  to  be  generated  by  the Railways  through  rationalization  of  passenger  fares  and  freight charges?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (f)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 495 BY SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, SHRI NAMA NAGESWARA RAO, SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE, SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR, SHRI SANJAY SADASHIV RAO MANDLIK AND SHRI  SUDHEER  GUPTA  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON 05.02.2020  REGARDING  RATIONALISATION  OF  PASSENGER  FARE AND FREIGHT CHARGES

- (a) and  (b):    It  is  a  continual  endeavour  of  Indian  Railways  (IR)  to improve passenger experience through modernization and improvement  in  facilities  over  trains  and  stations.  Some  of  the measures taken in this regard are listed below:
- i. State-of-the-art  Train-set  Vande  Bharat  services  have  been introduced between New Delhi - Varanasi and New Delhi- Shri Mata  Vaishno  Devi  Katra.  These  trains  have  ultra  modern features  like  quick  acceleration,  on  board  infotainment  and Global Positioning System (GPS) based passenger information system,  automatic  sliding  doors,  retractable  footsteps  and Zero discharge vacuum bio toilets etc.
- Tejas, Yatri and and in
- ii. Various premium train services like Humsafar, Antyodaya, Utkrisht Double Decker Air-conditioned (UDAY), Mahamana and coaches like Deen Dayalu Anubhuti, which have upgraded interiors / exteriors improved passenger amenities, have been introduced service in various train services over IR.
- IR has also launched Project Utkrisht in order to improve the condition of ICF type coaches running in Mail / Express trains. Upgradation  of  640  rakes  of  Mail  /  Express  trains  has  been taken up under Project Utkrisht. Work in around 300 rakes has
- iii. already been completed under Project Utkrisht.
- iv. Conventional lighting in coaches is being replaced with modern and energy efficient LED lights. Railway has also been providing increased number  of  mobile  charging points in coaches.  Electric  Multiple  Unit  (EMU)  and  Mainline  Electric

Multiple Unit (MEMU) rakes with 3 phase propulsion system are provided with Forced Ventilation system and GPS based Public Address  and  Passenger  Information  System  (PAPIS)  system. Further, three Air conditioned EMU rakes are already running in Mumbai Sub-urban area of Western Railway and two such rakes are under commissioning for running in Mumbai suburban area.

- v. Various works for improvement / upgradation / modernization of passenger amenities which, inter-alia, include improvement to facade  of  the  station  building,  retiring  room,  waiting  room, separate  waiting  room  for  ladies,  landscaping  of  circulating area,  earmarked  parking,  signages,  Pay  &  Use  toilets,  Foot Over Bridge, ramps at entry to station etc. are proposed to be provided at Railway stations as per the respective category of the  station  and  are  accordingly  undertaken  depending  upon need,  volume  of  passenger  traffic  and  inter-se  priority  and subject to availability of funds.
- vi. Upgradation/improvement/modernization of Railway stations has also been taken up under 'Adarsh Station Scheme'.  1173 stations so far have been developed / upgraded under 'Adarsh Station Scheme'.
- vii. Further,  in  the  financial  year  2018-19,  68  stations  have been substantially upgraded through Zonal Railways under the work of 'Soft upgradation of stations'. Under this soft upgradation, various amenities like improvement of facade of  the  station  building,  improvement  of  circulating  areas duly streamlining the traffic flow, improvement to platform surface, improvement to existing waiting halls and retiring rooms,  toilet facilities, provision  of  Foot-Over-Bridges, provision of Lifts and Escalators etc. have been taken up.
4. (c): Indian Railway carries out certain transport activities in passenger segment which are uneconomic in nature but carried out in the larger interest of the country. Losses incurred on this account are assessed every year (annually basis) which are termed as Social Service Obligation on IR.

Details  of  Social  Service  Obligation  borne  by  Railways  for  the  last year are as under:-

| S.No.   | Description                                                                         |   2018-19 (in ₹ crores) |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| (i)     | Concession in passenger fare                                                        |                    1995 |
| (ii)    | Losses on account of EMU Suburban Services                                          |                    6754 |
| (iii)   | Losses on Uneconomic Branch Lines                                                   |                    2342 |
| (iv)    | Losses on Strategic Lines                                                           |                    1815 |
| (v)     | Losses on Parcel, Luggage, Postal & Catering Services etc.                          |                    5278 |
| (vi)    | Losses on account of Pricing of Fares below Cost & other Social Service Obligations |                   37673 |
| (vii)   | Total Losses on Coaching Services [(i) to (vi)]                                     |                   55857 |
| (viii)  | Total Social Service Obligation(vii) - (v)                                          |                   50579 |
| (ix)    | Deduct Staff Welfare & Law & Order costs                                            |                   12326 |
| (x)     | Net Social Service Obligation (viii) - (ix)                                         |                   38253 |

(d): Fixation of rates for transportation of goods by rail is done based on certain cardinal principles, which include cost of service, value of service,  competition  from  alternate  mode  of  transports,  socioeconomic condition etc.

- (e) and (f): Evaluation of various alternatives relating to rationalization  of  the  fare  and  freight  structures  is  an  on-going process. At present, there is no such proposal.  However, with effect from 01.01.2020, the passenger fares have been rationalized. Salient features of this rationalization are as under:-
-  Suburban and Season ticket no increase.
-  Ordinary (Non-AC) non-suburban increase @1 paisa per km.
-  Non-AC  Classes  of  Mail/Express  trains  increase  @2  paise  per km.
-  AC classes increase @4 paise per km.

Estimated annual additional earning of ₹ 2312.36 cr is likely to be generated with the rationalisation of passenger fare w.e.f. 01.01.2020.  However, in respect of freight segment, Indian Railway took the following initiatives:-

-  Busy Season Charge, which is levied @ 15% from 1st Oct to 30th June, has been deferred till further advice (Except for iron ore and  POL).    Coal  &  coke  and  container  traffic  are  already exempted.
-  Withdrawal  of  5%  supplementary  charge  from  Mini  Rake  and Two Point Rake combination to make the rail rates competitive.
-  Distance for Mini Rake operation has been relaxed upto 1000 km for  Intra  Zonal  traffic.  Mini  rakes  are  also  booked  under  lower train load rates.
-  Round-trip  haulage  charge  for  container  traffic  (for  0-50  km) minimum  distance  slab  has  been  introduced  which  is  around 35% cheaper per TEU/round trip.

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