In order to fund modernization of passenger facilities, the Indian Railways plans to apply a user charge to tickets from many important stations.
Vinod Kumar Yadav, CEO of the Railway Board revealed the plan in a press conference yesterday.
“We will charge this amount to provide better facilities to passengers. The amount will be affordable but is neccesary if we have to provide world class services,” said CEO, RB.
He added that out of 7,000 stations, 10-15% stations where footfalls are likely to increase and development is needed, will be charged a user fee.
No mention was made of the exact amount of user charges to be applied. “We will do notification of the user charge,” Yadav said. He did not commit to a date for such notification.
The Railway Board CEO also clarified the need for user charges. “The manner in which we are expanding the network by 2024, we will need to develop facilities at stations to handle more passengers. These are stations where we will charge user fees,” he said.
Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, explained that freight train rates have gone up substantially. “Passenger fares in India are very highly subsidized. And that has led to a situation that freight rates have gone up substantially and freight has moved from railways to roads. 70% of freight moves by road,” Kant said.
“Over a period of time, competition will reduce fares both on the freight and passenger side in the country,” he claimed.
