IR does not want to increase the second Seater, Sleeper and Suburban tickets mainly due to political reasons. Current political dispensation also has same dilemma of making passenger segment as viable business without affecting the voting community, which is largely lower middle class and middle class which uses the IR on daily basis in suburban and long-distance travel for two to three times in a year to travel back to their native place.
IR has started improving the revenue realisation without showing a perceptible change through following means.
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1. Changes 500+ passenger trains to Express trains, which are plying more than 200km
2. Sleeper class reserve berths are slowly replaced and AC berths/seats increased from 10 percent of total daily berths to 40 percent over the last 10 years.
3. Upgraded around 600+ trains from Express category to SF
4. Increased revenue from 135 cr per day in 2018 to 200 cr per day in 2023.
5. VB trains added 60000 ac seats and will add another 100000 in 2024.
6. Ultimate goal is to make the IR to get around 350 to 400 crore revenue by carrying 1 crore passengers per day in long distance category and moving unreserved seats to reserved seats.
7. Make at least 50 percent in suburban travel into AC Vande Metro.
8. In 3 to 5 years, there will be no waitlists and the number of trains will be around 15000 per day, but most of them will be in viable category and none will be subsidised including suburban travel.
9. In transition, we have to put up with stress for another year or so for continuous new trains of around 500 per year joining the daily average trains, mostly in VB category.
please wait...Translate to EnglishIR doesn't wanna hike prices for second seater, sleeper, and suburban tickets 'cause of politics. The current government also wants to make money from passengers without pissing off the people who vote for them, mostly the lower middle class and middle class who use the trains every day to go back home two or three times a year. IR is finding ways to make more money without anyone noticing. Here's how they're doing it:
1. They're turning over 500 regular trains into express trains that go more than 200km.
2. They're slowly getting rid of sleeper class and adding more AC seats. The AC seats used to be only 10% of the total, now they're 40%.
3. They upgraded about 600 trains from regular to superfast.
4. They went from making 135 cr per day in 2018 to 200 cr per day in 2023. That means more cash.
5. They added 60,000 AC seats in VB trains and they're adding 100,000 more in 2024. Fancy, huh?
6. The big dream is to make IR earn 350 to 400 crore every day by carrying 1 crore passengers in long distance trains and getting rid of unreserved seats.
7. They wanna make half of the people in suburban areas travel in AC Vande Metro.
8. In 3 to 5 years, there won't be waitlists and there'll be 15,000 trains every day. But most of them will be profitable, and there won't be any subsidized tickets, not even for suburban travel.
9. In the meantime, we'll have to put up with the stress of having around 500 new trains every year, mostly in the fancy VB category. Hang in there for a bit longer.
