Railway fares to go up from Jan 21
New Delhi, Jan 9 (IBNS)
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday announced train fares will be increased from midnight Jan 21.
This is the first Railway fare hike in ten years.
"Railways to hike fare with an aim to maintain safety and cleanliness," Bansal said while addressing a press conference here.
Speaking on the decision, he said: "There was no hike for the last 10 years. Input costs have increased immensely while fares have remained stagnant....Given economic slowdown, we have not been able to so far achieve this year's targets in either freight or fare side."
Bansal said: "There will be no fresh hike in the Railways Budget."
Pertinently, the fare hike ranges from 2 paise per km to 10 paise per km across classes.
"All fares hike will be in multiples of Rs 5. There will be hikes across all classes," Bansal said.