Indian Railways Offering 25% Discount on AC Chair, Executive Cars

The Ministry of Railways is offering 25 per cent discount on air-conditioned (AC) chair cars and executive class in all trains including Vande Bharat Express, Shatabdi Express, Anubhuti and Vistadome coaches.

This scheme will not be applicable on special trains introduced as holiday or festival specials.

According to a ministry official, this step has been taken as many chair cars and executive class trains are running below capacity. “Many of these coaches could not get enough passengers. It caused damage. We decided to implement this scheme to improve the passenger capacity of these trains. This new order is applicable for one year. It will be reviewed after that,” the official told media.

The ministry official added that the exemption has been authorized from Saturday.

Railways said the concession may be given for the first leg and/or last leg of the journey and also for intermediate sections, where the occupancy is less than 50 per cent. Also, the discount will be applied immediately, but no refunds will be accepted for tickets already booked.

At least three Vande Bharat trains, including the recently inaugurated Vande Bharat trains between Bhopal and Indore, have less than 50 per cent occupancy, another official said. Therefore, railway board issued an order stating that zonal railways will monitor trains for 30 days and if this continues in AC chair car and AC Executive class they can offer up to 25 per cent cut in the base fare to "optimise utilisation of accommodation in trains".

"With these new cars, occupancy may increase. The scheme will also benefit those trains where there is a challenge of chair car classes," the official said.

Meanwhile, other charges like reservation fee, super fast surcharge and GST will be charged separately and will not be inclusive in the price slashed. Concession may be given on the basis of occupancy in any or all classes.

Depending on the occupancy, the discount may be modified or extended or withdrawn. "If a decision is taken to change the concession or withdraw money from the scheme, it can also be implemented immediately," the ministry said.