Friday, June 12, 2015

Railways Decide to Run Suvidha Trains


These Trains will Run at Dynamic Fare System

            Ministry of Railways has decided to run Suvidha trains on the following terms & conditions.
·        Tickets shall be issued only for confirmed and RAC passengers accommodation.  There shall be no provision for waiting list in the train.
·        The maximum Advance Reservation period will be 30 days while the minimum Advance Reservation period will be of 10 days.  Zonal Railways may decide the exact ARP for each train within this limit.
·        No concession shall be applicable on these trains.  Full adult fare shall be changed for all passengers irrespective of their age. Also free passes/complimentary passes/warrant/concessional voucher etc. shall not be permitted in these trains.
·        Apart from e-ticketing the sale of tickets shall also be allowed through PRS counters.
·        Modification/duplicate ticket/cluster bookings/BPT will not be allowed.
·        Only General quota bookings will be applicable.
·        Upgradation option shall not be applicable in these trains.
·        Passenger should produce one of the prescribed Identity Card during journey for verification purpose for both e-ticket & PRS ticket.
·        On the basis of demand pattern, Suvidha train services may run during peak seasons like winter rush, summer rush, Dussehara rush, Holi rush and on other occasions as jointly decided by COMs and CCMs of the zonal Railways.
·        There shall be no First AC/Fist Class/Executive class/general class/2nd sitting coach in the train composition of Suvidha Trains.


Three types of Suvidha Trains services are proposed:-
(1)   Fully air-conditioned services with or without stoppages: Base Price: (Rajdhani base fare+Tatkal charges).
(2)   Mixed services having no enroute commercial stoppages on mixed Duronto pattern: Base price: (Mixed Duronto base fare+ Tatkal charges).
(3)   For mixed services having some stoppages enroute and running as Mail/Express: Base price: (Mail/Express base fare+Tatkal charges).
·        In addition to above, if demand arises zonal Railways may also plan for fully airconditioned Shatabdi/Double decker type Suvidha Trains with fare of the respective categories of trains as per above.
·        Suvidha trains will run on dynamic fare system. The Permissible booking pattern and charges thereon of Suvidha Trains will be as under:-
For both AC classes and non AC- classes:-
Charges*
(Base fare +Tatkal)
1.5 times of (base fare+tatkal)
2 times of (base fare+tatkal)
2.5 times of (base fare+tatkal)
3 times of (base fare+tatkal)
% of seat/ berth
20%
20%
20%
20%
20%
                       
(*Other charges like reservation charge, catering charge, S/F, service tax, etc. will be taken in full wherever applicable)
·        Vacant berths left at the time of charting will be offered for current booking counters. Tickets at current counters shall be sold at the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like reservation fee, superfast charges, catering charges, service tax applicable shall be levied in full.
·        The information would also be displayed to the passenger during the booking in case the fare of lower class becomes higher than the higher class to exercise option to travel by the higher class.
·        There shall be no downward movement in the fare.
·        50% refund of fare subject to minimum flat cancellation charge of rupees one hundred for airconditioned-II tier/first class, rupees ninety for airconditioned III-tier/3 economy/airconditioned chair car and rupees sixty for sleeper class will be granted for confirmed/RAC tickets upto 6 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.  No refund of fare after that will be granted. Such refund will be granted by filing TDR in case of e-tickets and in case of PRS counter-ticket across the counter.
·        The Suvidha train services shall be over and above the normal train services and special trains on Tatkal fares.
·        The above guidelines will be implemented w.e.f. 01.07.2015.
More details can be seen at website of Ministry of Railway www.indianrailways.gov.in

Amendment in Tatkal Scheme



Timings for Booking Staggered for AC and non AC Classes

At present, the booking under Tatkal scheme opens at 10.00 hrs on the previous day of journey from train originating station. It has been decided that w.e.f. 15.06.2015, timings for booking of Tatkal tickets will be staggered for AC & non-AC classes to 1000 hours onwards and 1100 hours onwards respectively. Hence, now the reservation under Tatkal scheme will open at 1000 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station for AC classes whereas that for non-AC classes will start at 1100 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station.

Moreover, all types of ticketing agents (YTSK, RTSAs, IRCTC agents, etc.) will now be debarred from booking tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of booking i.e. from 0800 to 0830 hours for general bookings, and from 1000 to 1030 hours & 1100 to 1130 hours for Tatkal booking in AC & non-AC classes respectively.