4 months ago
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Charging afloat fare for tickets booked nether the RAC category, wherever the summons holder has to question without a afloat berth, is not justified, a parliamentary committee has said.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), successful its study "Punctuality and Travel Time successful Train Operations successful Indian Railways" tabled successful Parliament connected Wednesday, said that "charging afloat fare for tickets nether RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation), wherever the summons holder continues successful the RAC class aft illustration mentation without a berth facility, is not justified."
The committee suggested that the Railway Ministry "should devise a mechanics to refund partial fare to the customer/traveller who could not get a afloat berth but had to wage afloat charges astatine the clip of boarding."
Under the existent practice, the railways complaint afloat fare from a rider to publication a berth successful trains nether the RAC category. However, the rider whitethorn stay successful the RAC class and stock the berth with different RAC passenger. Both passengers wage afloat fare to the railways.
The committee urged the railways to refund partial fare to specified passengers and apprise it of the steps taken successful this regard.
Addressing the request to reappraisal the criteria for Superfast trains successful Indian Railways, the committee noted that successful May 2007, the railways decided that if the mean velocity of a train, successful some up and down directions, is simply a minimum of 55 kmph connected wide gauge and 45 kmph connected metre gauge, it would beryllium treated arsenic a Superfast (SF) train.
It said that the audit observed that the benchmark of 55 kmph for classifying a bid arsenic Superfast is itself low.
"There has been nary alteration successful the criteria of classification of SF trains since 2007," the committee said.
It besides noted that retired of 478 Superfast trains, the scheduled velocity of 123 Superfast trains is little than 55 kmph.
In its response, the Ministry told the committee that scrutiny of the database of 123 trains categorised arsenic Superfast revealed that 47 trains person speeds implicit 55 kmph arsenic per the existent data. As for the remaining trains recovered to beryllium operating astatine little than 55 kmph, the Ministry said that the proviso of further stoppages aft commencement of regular operations had affected the mean velocity of a fewer trains.
"The committee portion expressing interest implicit categorisation of trains moving astatine a specified velocity of 55 kmph arsenic 'Superfast Trains', convey their unhappiness implicit deficiency of adherence to the bounds acceptable by the Ministry itself," the study said.
It added, "The committee are forced to reason that the demarcation of trains arsenic superfast was to use higher charges. As and erstwhile the velocity of trains fell below, the Indian Railways should person removed the bid from the Superfast class and revised the fare."
The committee further considered the Superfast benchmark of 55 kmph "too blimpish and anachronistic", and not successful consonance with contiguous times, particularly erstwhile immoderate East Asian countries similar China and Japan tally trains astatine speeds acold beyond India's benchmarks.
"The committee urge the ministry to reappraisal and rationalise the criteria for categorising the trains arsenic 'Superfast' comparable with planetary standards approximating to 100 kmph and research the feasibility of achieving a accordant velocity of 100 kmph not conscionable astatine the terminating point, but passim the full travel — from the originating station, done intermediate stops, and up to the terminating constituent — by the twelvemonth 2030," the study said.
"The committee are besides of the presumption that instauration of caller trains tends to origin delays owed to halting of different existing Express/Superfast trains for enabling them to walk and, therefore, urge that the ministry should absorption much connected ensuring that the existing explicit and superfast trains tally connected clip implicit different recently introduced trains," it added.
