The premium trains introduced to decongest traffic this
festive season has not found many takers because of high pricing.
Bookings started on October 5 and 6. As many as 300-350 berths in the
second AC and third AC coaches are lying vacant in each of the trains.
Commuters are upset that there is no rationale behind the pricing of the
tickets.
For instance, a third AC ticket from
Chennai to Coimbatore costs Rs. 3,032 and a second AC ticket is priced
at Rs. 3177. The difference is a mere Rs. 145. On a normal day, the same
third AC ticket would cost Rs. 802. A flight ticket to Coimbatore, if
booked a month in advance, would have taken away Rs. 1,900 from the
commuter’s wallet. Even a hired private cab would cost only Rs. 9,000 to
travel the same distance, plying at least four persons.
“Usually,
these tickets would sell like hot cakes. But there is no justification
for the pricing. When you book the ticket, it shows a different base
fare and when you get into the payment gateway, the amount varies. Not
just there is a service tax and service charge. What does it mean,”
questioned Priyadarshini Karthikeyan, a commuter who logged out of the
IRCTC website after seeing the price.
As on October
9, 150 second and third AC tickets were available on the
Chennai-Coimbatore train. The Chennai-Nagercoil train had 140 tickets
idle and the Chennai-Tirunelveli 110 tickets. It was the same with other
trains.
Commuters are also upset that the services
would be no different on these trains. “There is no value-added service.
At least a bottle of water for charging such an exorbitant price would
have made sense,” said S. Mathanath, who has booked his ticket for
Madurai, fearing further hikes.
A senior official of
Southern Railway said this was similar to the supply-demand theory. “As
demand goes up, we will further hike the price,” he said.
Asked for a break-up of pricing, he said: “This is similar to airfares. As the journey date nears, the prices go up.”
Even return tickets post Deepavali has not been sold. The Nagercoil-Chennai train on October 23 has more than 800 tickets open.
But railway officials have a different view.
“As date nears, people will surely book tickets. The trains will run full,” the official said.