Railways removes flexi-fare scheme from Humsafar trains

In a big relief to passengers, railways has removed the flexi-fare scheme from its premium Humsafar trains and has also decided to introduce sleeper class coaches, a senior official said on Friday. The relief will be applicable to 35 pairs of Humsafar trains, which currently have only AC 3-tier classes, the official said.

The tatkal ticket fares of the Humsafar trains have also been reduced. They will now cost 1.3 times of the base fare, instead of 1.5 times, the official said. This means that the tatkal fare in Humsafar trains has been made equivalent to the normal tatkal rule of other mail/express trains (Humsafar base fare + normal class wise tatkal charges).

The relief comes weeks after the national transporter 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 sector.

Additionally, the base fare of the Humsafar trains will be 1.15 times of the base fare of mail/express trains and not "Superfast" mail/express trains, which will lead to reduction in the Humsafar base fare. "Sleeper class coaches will also be attached in addition to the existing 3AC

class coaches as per the requirement and as per the decision of the Zonal Railways," the official said. Tickets under current booking after the first charting shall be sold with 10 per cent

discount on the applicable basic fare and other supplementary charges like all other trains. The relief will be effective from advance reservation period after making required changes in the passenger reservation system, the official said.

However, four sleeper class coaches have already been attached in the Anand Vihar-Allahabad Humsafar Express on Friday. Flexi-fare is applicable in only 141 of total 13,452 trains.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)