Representative imageKochi: The Railways has decided to extend the Premium Tatkal Quota system to more trains, a move which could result in sleeper class tickets becoming costlier than third tier a/c tickets.
The dynamic increase in fare, when half the tickets in Tatkal quota are booked, will be introduced in the following trains: Malabar Express, Maveli Express, Mangaluru Express, Thiruvananthapuram-Veraval Express, Thiruvananthpuram-Chennai Mail, Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Superfast Express, Mangaluru-Chennai Mail, Mangaluru-Chennai Superfast Express, and Ananthapuri Express.
The system has already been in place in the Thiruvananthapuram-New Delhi Kerala Express, Thiruvananthapuram-Hyderabad Sabari Express, Mumbai-Kanyakumari Jayanti Janta Express, and the New Delhi-Ernakulam Mangala Express.
At present, the base fare for a sleeper vlass ticket in the Veraval Express from Thiruvananthapuram to Veraval is Rs 835, while the tatkal rate is Rs 1,035. If booked under the new premium takal facility, the ticket would cost as much as Rs 2,250, which means the price of a sleeper ticket could be more than that of a AC-III tier ticket.
The fare for traveling in the third class AC of Chennai Mail from Thiruvananthpuram to Chennai on Monday was Rs 3,380.
The Railways was forced to hike prices via the premium takal scheme after the steep fares fixed for the Suvidha special trains sparked outrage across the country.
It is alleged that the method of pricing was introduced in certain trains without taking the demand or the ticket availability into consideration.
Though studies have revealed that there was a significant drop in ticket bookings for Rajadhani and Duronto expresses following the introduction of dynamic pricing, the Railways seemed to have learnt no lessons from the experiment.
Due to the exorbitant ticket rates, commuters have ditched the Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Superfast Express, but the base fares continue to be on par with the ones charged by the Rajadhani and Duronto express under the flexi fare system.
The Chennai Mail, initially graded under the Duronto class of trains, was later degraded to AC Express status due to a huge fall in the bookings.
In all the other trains, the fares for second and third tier AC class tickets to travel between Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai are Rs 1,775 and Rs 1,240 respectively. However, in the Super AC Express, the prices are fixed at Rs 2,015 and Rs 2,835 respectively.
