Mumbai: Record footfall in AC trains on Day 1 of lower fares

The number of passengers who utilised the AC train services on Thursday surpassed the average daily passenger count before the fares were rationalised.

The revised minimum single journey fare for first class is Rs 25 instead of earlier price of Rs 50 for up to a distance of 5 km, while for AC locals, it is Rs 35 instead of Rs 65, officials said. While the single journey fare for passengers travelling in first class and AC trains on Central Railway (CR) and Western
Railway (WR) has been revised, there is no change in the fare for second class and season tickets for both the classes.

“The revised single journey fares for first class travel and air-conditioned trains came into effect from May 5. This will immensely benefit commuters,” Shivaji Sutar, chief spokesperson of CR said.

According to the figures shared by CR, on an average, 1,519 tickets was sold daily for AC local trains in April. For WR, the figure was 1,866.
On Thursday, while CR sold 2,308 tickets till 2 pm, till 5 pm, WR sold 3,052 tickets – more than the total number of tickets sold daily on both the lines
earlier.

Around 80 AC local train services are operated on CR and WR on a daily basis. However, there would be a low ridership due to the high fare. “We have received a good response and are anticipating that it will break all earlier records… ridership will increase multi-fold,” said an official.