Rail Budget 2012: Train fares increased for all classes

Agencies

New Delhi, 14 March 2012:  Claiming full responsibility for the railway fare hike, Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday said that he did not consult Trinamool Congress on the issue. Defending his move, Trivedi said that rail fares had not been hiked steeply keeping in mind the problems of the ’aam admi’. 

 

In a post Rail Budget interview, Dinesh Trivedi refused to comment on the question of a rollback in fare hike. He remained tight-lipped on ties with Trinamool Congress and told Times Now that he has done his duty as the Railway Minister. 

 

With his party coming out in the open against the budget, Dinesh Trivedi is mulling resignation, according to Times Now. 

 

According to Times Now, TMC leader Mamta Banerjee had asked Dinesh Trivedi to resign from his post of Railway Minister last week. The channel also reported that Banerjee was perhaps aware of the proposed railway fare hike. 

 

Strongly opposing the hike in rail passenger fare, Trinamool Congress demanded a roll-back. 

 

 

A team of Trinamool Congress MPs met Railway Minister and party colleague Dinesh Trivedi soon after he presented the Railway Budget in which he proposed to hike fares across all classes. 

 

Minister of State for Health Sudip Bandopadhyay said that the TMC MPs asked the Railway Minister to roll-back the fare hike. 

 

When pointed out that Trivedi was a member of the Trinamool Congress, he said the Railway Minister has performed his "constitutional duty" by presenting the Budget. 

 

"The Trinamool Congress never rolls back its demand," Bandopadhyay said. 

 

Trinamool Congress (TMC) refused to back the Railway Budget 2012-13 presented by its own party member and Railway Minister, Dinesh Trivedi. 

 

TMC member Derek O’Brien expressed his discontent with the fare hike measures announced in the Railway Budget on social networking site Twitter. His tweet read," Railway Budget...what was all that about increasing fares across the board? Upper class...maybe ok...but all? Sorry,cannot agree." 

 

The Railway Minister also faced flak from the opposition party BJP, which termed the Rail Budget as ’anti-aam aadmi’. The party is of the opinion that there is no vision in the budget and prices will shoot up. 

 

Senior BJP leader opposed the hike in train fares announced in the Rail Budget, saying the government should not have increased the rate in one go and put an "additional burden" on the common man. 

 

Sinha, a former Finance Minister, said the hike put a "big burden" on the people as it is "steep". 

 

"The fares should have been increased long ago in small doses. However, this time the Railway Minister has put a big burden. For poor people, who are travelling 500 to 1000 km, the increase is steep," he told reporters inside Parliament House. 

 

Dinesh Trivedi announced marginal hike in passenger fares ranging from 2 paisa per kilometre to 30 paisa per kilometre in various categories of trains despite noting that Railways was passing through a "difficult phase". 

 

Platform tickets have also been raised from Rs 3 to Rs 5. In his first Railway Budget, Trivedi announced increase in passenger fares by 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary Second Class, 3 paise per km for Mail/Express Second Class and 5 per paise per km for Sleeper Class, 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car, AC-3 Tier and First Class. 

 

AC-2 Tier will cost more by 15 paise per km while AC-1 will be dearer by 30 paise per km. 

 

In his over 100-minute speech, Trivedi said these were aimed at rationalising the fares to cause "minimal impact" on the common man and "to keep the burden within tolerance limits in general". 

 

He said he had been counselled to go for steep increase in passenger fares as there had been no increase in last eight years but he desisted from doing so "guided by the overriding concern for aam aadmi (common man)". 

 

The proposed adjustments, he said, do not even cover fully the impact of increase in fuel prices during the last eight years. 

 

"I am keeping the valuable passengers of Indian Railways insulated from the burden of increasing staff cost," he said.