Rlys record 30% growth in AC first class revenue

The increased passenger usage of AC first class also resulted in a 30 per cent jump in the earnings to Rs 77.11 crore in this period, compared with the same five months in 2006-07 when the earnings stood at Rs 59.37 crore.

According to experts, this growth in the usage of AC first class may be put on the increasing airfares and delays in flights, specially between important destinations like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata.

Experts argue that the passenger growth of around 27 per cent in the first class compartments is bit surprising and unusual because the normal rate of growth in the passenger traffic of railways will be around 8-10 per cent. However, they feel that with airfares once again becoming expensive due to higher ATF prices, affordability of airlines is slowly getting eroded among the middle class travellers.

While there is not much difference between the AC first class rail fares and airfares between Delhi and Mumbai, all important trains connecting the two cities have witnessed higher occupancy in the first AC as compared with the previous year figures.

"While the AC first class occupancy in 2006-07 on an average was 55-65 per cent, it improved drastically to over 80 per cent in 2007-08," an industry expert said.

It costs Rs 3,320 to travel from Delhi to Mumbai in AC first class in Rajdhani Express compared with the starting airfare in the economy class, which ranges between Rs 3,000 and Rs 6,300 across various airlines between the two cities.

In December 2007, the number of passengers in the first AC stood at 115,000, reflecting a growth of 25.77 per cent over the previous year. Similarly, in January 2008, the number of AC first class passengers grew by 24.47 per cent, while in February it grew by 37.59 per cent.