GUWAHATI: The decision of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to resume passenger train service on a regular basis for the first time since last year’s lockdown may ease inter and intra-state passenger movement but will certainly pinch the pockets of travellers because of a near three-fold hike in passenger fare.
To start plying the five pairs of passenger trains again, the NFR has published special restoration notices recently. However, the train status showing ‘unreserved mail/express ticketing’ has surprised local passengers, who were expecting some relief from the ‘exorbitant fare’ that they have been paying for months in private commercial passenger vehicles for their journey in the absence of passenger trains. After the lockdown was withdrawn last year, only one pair of passenger trains between New Bongaigaon-Guwahati was operating on a pilot basis in the NFR zone.
“The hike in passenger fare is not acceptable when skyrocketing prices of commodities has already infuriated people during the Covid crisis. The fare will now be charged at par with the rate of express trains. Where is the logic?” wondered the general secretary of Assam Rail Passengers Association, Dipankar Sarma.
The list of the passenger trains to be restored from this week will be between New Bongaigaon-Guwahati (via Goalpara), Dibrugarh Town-Ledo, Guwahati-Haibargaon, Guwahati-Silghat Town and Siliguri Junction-New Bongaigaon. All these trains were crucial to restore passenger train connectivity from east to west of Assam as well as connecting Siliguri in North Bengal with Bongaigaon in west Assam.
But the passengers have objected to the fare to be charged when trains, stoppages and timings of journey remain the same. “We may not have objections, had there been an overall increase in passenger fare all over the country. But why this unjust hike in fare at the rate of express or mail trains while the coaches and other facilities remain the same?” asked Sarma.
When contacted, NFR PRO Nripen Bhattacharya said, “Manas Rhino passenger train is already plying between New Bongaigaon and Guwahati as per the earlier fare chart. But for the five passenger trains to be operated from this week, the fare will be a special fare as directed in the Railway Board guidelines.”
Even as railway officials refused to comment why the passenger fare will be at par with express train fare, sources at the Railways said that the move may be aimed at recovering some losses to be incurred due to comparatively fewer number of passengers.
“A large number of passengers are unlikely to travel in the passenger trains during Covid. So, the Railways might have decided to charge express train fare to recover some losses for plying trains with vacant seats,” a railway source said.