More trains, but confusion in skies

However, some others say that the new train services will have no impact at all

Airlines and travel agencies are divided on whether the new train services announced by Mamata Banerjee in the Railway Budget 2009-10 will see a shift of passengers from airlines to trains.

Banerjee has announced 12 non-stop “Duronto” trains which will offer point-to-point services between key Indian cities, including Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Pune and Chennai-Delhi. These train services will offer savings in time which could range from one hour to three hours, depending on the route being travelled. She has also introduced “Yuva” trains for the youth in which passengers have to fork out Rs 299 for distances up to 1,500 km and Rs 399 for distances up to 2,500 km.

“Airlines offer about 125,000 seats a day. We estimate about 10,000 seats to be deflected to the new train services which constitutes for 7 to 8 of airlines’ inventory,” said Mohit Srivastava, head of online sales for Makemytrip.com, an online travel portal.

However, there are others who say that the new services will have no impact at all. Says Ajay Singh, director of low-cost carrier SpiceJet: “This is a myth, the savings in timing cannot be matched even if it saves some time. Second, airline travel is an aspirational product — train passengers move up to airlines; they don’t go back to trains. Third, the new fares which you can buy if you are planning your journey earlier are very attractive.”

A similar view is echoed by Noel Swain, vice-president of Cleartrip.com, another travel portal: “I don’t see any shift as the difference in time savings are too huge. However, in short-distance travel there might be some impact as you have to add one hour extra for security check.”

However, of the 12 Duronto trains, only Delhi-Lucknow (497 km), Delhi-Allahabad (628 km) and Mumbai-Ahmedabad (545 km) are within six to 10 hours of travel time. Most of the other trains cover long distances and, therefore, the savings in time might not be a consideration for passengers to change.

However, in many of these routes, the savings in time could make it attractive vis-a-vis air travel. For instance, the Delhi-Lucknow Shatabdi takes six-and-a-half hours, while a flight takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the congestion in the skies. Add in another one-and-a-half hours for security check, travelling by train could look attractive. After all, you pay only around Rs 700 on a AC chair car compared to anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,800 on a low-cost carrier for the same travel.