Short headline: Modest hike mooted
in passenger fare New Delhi: Railway Budget for 2002-03 proposes a modest hike in passenger fares and rationalisation of freight tariffs to net Rs 1,360 crore a year.

Of this, passenger fare hike will yield Rs 910 crore and freight Rs 450 crore, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar announced in the Lok Sabha while presenting the Budget.

The minimum fare for second-class rail and express trains would be increased from Rs 15 to Rs 16 and at longer distances upto 341 km, the increase ranges from Rs 1 to Rs 6.

The minimum fare for ordinary second-class will increase from Rs 3 to Rs 4 with the maximum increase for any distance upto 100 km pegged at only Rs 3.

At certain distances, fares would be lower by Re 1 to Rs 2 due to rationalisation.

The fares for distances beyond 100 km for ordinary second-class will be fixed at 55 per cent of the second-class mail and express fares.

Fares for second-class monthly season tickets to be fixed equivalent to fares for 15 single journeys by ordinary second-class.

There will be no changes in the system of charging for quarterly season tickets, existing fare structure of Rajdhani and Shatabdi and parcel and luggage rates including newspapers and magazines.

Kumar said that the relativity index for sleeper class mail and express trains will be increased from Rs 155 to Rs 160 and AC Chair car from Rs 300 to Rs 350.

For AC first-class, reduction in relativity index is from Rs 1,440 to Rs 1,400 to make it more competitive with air travel. No change in relativity index in other classes of travel.

The Railway Minister proposed no across the board increase in the freight rate but was only carrying out rationalisation.

Freight structure for base class rationalised to remove anomalies, resulting in marginal decrease at certain distances and minimal increase in certain others.

Number of classes for different commodities has been reduced from 59 to 32. The ratio of freight in highest class to lowest drops from 8 to 3.3.

He also abolished 25 anomalous Classes.

Commodities of common use such as edible salt, fruits, vegetables, gur and jaggery, sugar, certain items of edible oils, food grains, pulses, urea, fodder and dry grass are proposed to be carried out at the lowest class, 90.

There will also be marginal increase in rates of coal, iron ore and raw material to steel plants. But there will be marginal reduction in iron and steel, pig iron, cement and most petroleum products.

Kumar said that fares for second-class monthly season tickets would be made equivalent to those for 15 single journeys second-class (ordinary), uniformly for all distances.

First-class season tickets will continue to be charged at four times the second-class ticket fares, he said.

At present, the monthly season ticket holders pay for 10 to 19 singles journeys as against 50 single journeys normally undertaken in a month, he said. PTI