Indian Railways passengers hoping to upgrade from uncomfortable non-air-conditioned sleeper coaches to the new 3 Tier AC Economy class are in for a disappointment. The national rail transporter announced its fare structure for the new 3AC Economy class.
Despite adding 11 more berths, the base fare for the new class is only slightly lower than the standard air-conditioned three-tier sleeper coach (3AC) fare.
According to a circular issued by the Indian Railways, the fare for the new 3AC Economy coaches is to be 2.4 times the base fare of the non-AC sleeper class. For a standard 3AC class coach, the base fare is approx 2.6 times the non-AC sleeper fare. All other charges, concessions and taxes will be the same as applied to the standard 3AC class bookings.
Base Fare Comparison
As the table shows, a journey below 2,000 kilometres by 3E will save a passenger Rs. 120 or less compared to a standard 3AC ticket. Passengers only save Rs. 57 if travelling for less than 500 kilometres in a 3E coach.
Base fares exclude reservation and superfast charges, dynamic fare, taxes and cesses.
The modest reduction in fare is despite the 3E coach having 11 additional berths compared to the 72 of a normal 3AC coach. Ironically, non-AC sleeper LHB coaches with fares at a mere 41% of the 3AC Economy class, have three fewer berths per coach.
Indian Railways had announced the introduction of a new LHB coach design for the 3AC Economy class last year. The first coach was rolled out for trials in March 2021. The new design packs 11 more berths in the same interior space as the standard 3AC coach. The increased density was achieved by cutting down on legroom and berth width in each bay.
The new coach features several improvements to interiors. The additions could help offset the reduction in space available per passenger.
Meaningful Impact Unlikely
With the unimaginatively designed 3AC Economy fare structure, IR has likely squandered another opportunity to upsell non-AC passengers to the new 3AC Economy class. A large 2.4x fare difference between a non-AC sleeper ticket and 3AC Economy ticket will discourage passengers from upgrading.
As a result, the much-hyped new class is unlikely to help improve the profitability of Indian Railways’ passenger services.
The 3E coach changes you have mentioned reminds me of the one time I travelled by Garib Rath. I was lucky enough NOT to get stuffed into a side middle berth, but it was uncomfortable sitting in the 6 berth bay with knees touching with the person opposite that I bought a tatkal for SL on the return journey 😅
Sure way to spread the delta variant far and wide,and that too,after paying a tariff.
Rightly said
Contrary to the article, I think this would be an instant hit.
At least 25% of the people who travel in sleeper class opt for it ONLY because 3AC is always filled quickly (except may be for a brief period during winter- 2 months max). Just observe the seat filling pattern in all the important trains.
I have seen people not hesitating to pay double the ticket fare (1 for the ticket and 1 one as bribe) to the TTE to get the berth allotted in Sleeper class. So people dont hesitate to pay for getting the comfort.
AC buses charge ₹ 700 for a 350 km distance between Bengaluru and Chennai- the evergreen route with a consistent demand. This ₹700 is for the even more cramped accommodation in the buses than the proposed 3AC economy of IR. Hence, I am sure 3AC economy wouldn’t fail, esp once the pandemic is brought under more control.
At some point of time, AC coaches should start replacing the sleeper class progressively, so that dust and muck dont enter the coach, and the journey would definitely be pleasant with less noise.
Many trains have now got the unreserved coaches removed quietly. In the same way, this should also be done.