AC local fares hiked: Comparison of old and new rates, effective June 1

The fares of suburban AC local services plying between Churchgate and Virar will be hiked from tomorrow, June 1, as Western Railway (WR) has decided to end the introductory offer.

At the time of starting the service, WR had set the AC local fare as 1.2 times of regular first class tickets as an introductory offer. The discounted rate was supposed to be applicable for only 6 months, but WR kept extending it.

The price will be changed to 1.3 times starting tomorrow, resulting in a fare hike of Rs 5 to Rs 15 for a single ticket journey.

“Ministry of Railways has now decided to withdraw the introductory offer of air-conditioned EMU train. Due to this decision, the base fare of single journey shall now be 1.3 times of the base fare of existing single journey tickets of First Class tickets w.e.f June 1, 2019,” WR said in a statement.

Following the price hike, the cost for weekly pass travellers will increase by Rs 25 to Rs 80. Meanwhile, fortnight pass holders will have to bear an additional cost of Rs 35 to Rs 125 and monthly pass holders will have to pay Rs 50 to Rs 165 more.

The AC local, a first for the country, has been extremely popular with commuters. Since its launch in December 2017, it has generated a revenue of at least Rs 24 crore up to April 30, 2019. WR runs 12 AC local train services from Monday to Friday currently.

“It is worthwhile to know that in the year 2018-19, India’s first AC Local train has had a total earning of almost Rs 19 crore and the services of this train are getting very good response from commuters,” the release said.

“The beginning of the new financial year too has been fruitful with the AC local earnings garnering approx. Rs 1.84 crore in April, 2019 which created a record of highest ever earning in a single month,” it added.

Till date, at least 58 lakh commuters have travelled on the AC local since launch.

Typically, any hike in railway fares is met with strong resistance from commuters. However, the hike in AC local fares has been not raised many eyebrows as most regular commuters seem content with paying a little extra instead of opting for the alternative.