Passengers will have to pay high fares during festivals: Railway Minister Vaishnaw in RS

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Passengers will have to pay high fares during festivals as the ministry has no plans to constitute any committee to decide train fares in the country, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Friday.

Based on inputs received from various channels, passenger fare rationalisation is an ongoing and continuous process, he said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

“At present, no proposal to form a tariff committee for fixing railway fare is under consideration,” the minister said in response to a question from DMK MP P Wilson.

“Feedback regarding various passenger related policies including passenger fare is received continuously through various forums such as passenger associations, consultative committees at station, division, zonal levels etc,” Vaishnaw said.

According to him, Indian Railways operates different categories of train services to cater to the travel needs of various sections of the population.

Vaishnaw said the railways gave a subsidy of Rs 59,837 crore on passenger tickets in 2019-20 to provide affordable services to all strata of society and Railway “This amounts to a concession of 53% on an average, to every person travelling on Railways." The subsidy, he said, is continuing for all passengers.

Wilson asked “whether the Government is aware of the concerns raised by passengers with regards to 300 percent increase in base fare during festivals” and “whether the Government is planning to form tariff committee for fixing railway fare”. PTI