Railway minister blows hot and cold on raising train fares

Will railway passenger fares be raised in the annual railway budget? The question is under considerable debate, with railways minister Dinesh Trivedi reported to have taken contradictory stands.

"There is definite case to re-look at the fares, which have not been touched for eight years," the minister told reporters early on Friday. He, however, emphasised the poor should be kept in mind. He did not elaborate, but this may be read to indicate that air conditioned coach fares would go up, while the ordinary fares would stay about the same.

A few months ago, Trivedi had suggested a shift to dynamic fare pricing to raise internal resources. "We are considering dynamic pricing policy for passenger fare. We have done it in freight tariff," he had said at an economic editor's conference in October.

The proposal was not pursued as it was nixed by Trivedi's political boss Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister, who invariably opposes price hikes in any segment.

At the same time, The Hindu reports that later on Friday, Trivedi denied any move to hike train passenger fares.

Speaking to newspersons after a meeting with a visiting Japanese delegation led by infrastructure minister Takeshi Maeda to discuss cooperation in railways, where Japan is a major investor, Trivedi ruled out hiking train fares even though he had proposed to not only raise fares but also include a fuel component which would be directly proportional to petrol prices.