Humsafar Express tickets to get cheaper, train also to get sleeper coaches

Tickets of the Humsafar Express will now be cheaper as the railways on Friday changed the base fare structure of the premium train and removed the incremental flexi-fare scheme, while adding sleeper class coaches to the all AC service.

According to a circular, railways changed the Humsafar Express's base fare structure by making it 1.15 times of that of cheaper mail/express trains, instead of 1.15 times the base fare of "superfast" mail/express trains.

Also, under the tatkal quota earlier a higher rate of 1.5 times the normal base fare was applicable. Now, it will be 1.3 times of the base fare.

The relief will be applicable to 35 pairs of Humsafar Express trains after changes in the passenger reservation system, an official said.

The Humsafar Express trains were introduced as AC 3-tier premium service, however according to the new circular, zonal railways have been allowed to attach sleeper class coaches and chair-car coaches as well.

The Humsafar Express tickets under the current booking will be sold at a 10 per cent discount on the applicable base fare, and other supplementary charges such as superfast tariffs, reservation fee and GST will be levied in full, the circular said.

Four sleeper class coaches have already been attached to the Anand Vihar-Allahabad Humsafar Express on Friday.

Under the flexi-fare scheme, railways charges an incremental amount for each 10 per cent of train tickets booked. Introduced in 2016, the flexi fare scheme has been rationalised in several trains with the fare cap coming down from 1.5 times of base fare to 1.4 times.

The changes have been made as the national transporter wants to remain competitive on key routes, amid heavy discounts offered by airlines.

The flexi-fare scheme is currently applicable to only 141 of total 13,452 trains.

The relief announced on Friday comes weeks after the railways offered up to 25 per cent concession on certain trains with AC chair-car and executive-class sitting. These include trains like Shatabdi, Gatimaan, Tejas, Double Decker and Intercity.

On Thursday, railways also announced a slew of discounts to its freight segment.