Railways hiked fares for short distances to deter non-essential travel

Hike covers less than 3% of total trains running; fares fixed in passenger trains at unreserved price of mail or express trains for the same distance

The Indian Railways has hiked fares for some short distance routes. An official statement said these 'slightly higher fares' impact less than 3 per cent of total trains running.

Higher fares for short-distance passenger trains have been introduced to discourage people from non-essential travel, the statement added. 

According to the Rail Ministry, these fares have been fixed in passenger trains at the unreserved price of mail or express trains for the same distance.

This higher price is be seen as "Pro Active measure of Railways to prevent crowding in trains and stop covid from spreading," the statement added.

Indian Railways said it has operationalised almost 65 per cent of the Mail/Express trains and over 90 per cent of suburban services as compared to the pre lock down times. In all, 1,250 Mail/Express trains, 5,350 suburban services and more than 326 passenger trains are currently in operation average on a daily basis.