Indian Railways and Corona

It is no secret that Covid-19 or Corona Virus has dealt a massive blow to almost all sections of society and to the nation’s economy in particular. Indian Railways is no exception in this regard. Recently, the Railway started running trains on almost all routes but the irony is that they are being plied as special trains – thus doing away with the necessity of providing concession to passengers belonging to different categories. Moreover, major discrepancies could be seen in passenger fares especially in AC classes. For instance, a passenger booking a ticket from New Delhi to Prayagraj will have to shell out different sums as fares in different trains for traveling in Second AC Class. More specifically, one train charges Rs. 1,430 for the one-way journey. On the other hand, another train charges Rs. 1,810 for the same distance to be covered in the same duration. It must be kept in mind that these trains do not belong to the Rajdhani category. Additionally, Indian Railways is not providing bedrolls, food, and breakfast for premium trains such as Shatabdi and Rajdhanis. Although Indian Railways claims that it is not charging food and breakfast amount, it is charging a convenience fee for generating additional income. Similarly, Indian Railways has stopped levying reservation fees or superfast charges. However, it has introduced a system of dynamic fare wherein the fare of a particular class goes up even if the booking is done 20 days in advance. At a time when a sizable population has been affected due to the lockdown necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, travelers have been affected badly in financial terms. This kind of indiscriminate increase in fares at this juncture has raised questions from passengers who want to know from the Government the rationale behind its arbitrary decisions.