New Delhi: Flooded with complaints and vacant seats due to high cost after introduction of flexi-fare ticketing system in elite trains like Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto, the Railway Ministry plans to review the fare and may slash the prices of tickets.
Railways has earned around Rs 540 crore in less than a year after introducing the flexi-fare system, but it was flooded with complaints from the passengers about high prices of tickets.
It has also noticed that several seats were left vacant due to high ticket prices in several trains.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal said, "The issue of the flexi-fare scheme has been brought to my notice by the people. It could be improved in a way that it meets the revenue target without hurting people's pocket."
Asked if there could be any amendment to the system, Goyal said, "There is a possibility of some changes."
The scheme, launched on September 9 last year and applicable to premium trains such as the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto, allows 10 per cent of the seats to be sold at normal fare and thereafter increasing it in phases by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold, with a ceiling of a 50 per cent rise.
The minister said the railways was also working to ensure efficient and faster services.
"It is proposed to increase the speed of around 700 trains with effect from November 1, 2017. This exercise will help in converting 48 Mail Express trains to the Super Fast Express category," he said.
He said all stations and trains will have high speed wi- fi connectivity, but did not specify when this would be implemented.
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