4 Lakh Extra Berths Available For Rail Passengers; But IRCTC Will Charge Extra For Train Tickets!

Indian Railways has announced the start of the process of adding 4 lakh seats to the railways on a daily basis. With this, the national transporter has stayed true to its words when it revealed its plans of doing so, back in July.

However, IRCTC has decided that the tickets bought by passengers online will become costlier as service charges will be added to the prices of the tickets, starting September 1, 2019. 

Indian Railways Starts Process of 4 Lakh Additional Seats Through New Technology

This HOG system has helped the Northern Railway save a whopping ?42 crore annually, which speaks volumes about the technology. 

The HOG (Head On Generation) technology will replace the EOG (End of Generation) technology which was implemented up until now in the railways. The EOG technology used separate coaches in railways to draw power, which will not be needed anymore. 

HOG technology draws power from electric wiring of the train itself, which frees up a couple of coaches of the train, available for the public to use. Read all about the HOG technology right here. 

As of now, there are some trains already running on this technology: six pairs of Shatabdi, four pairs of Rajdhani, the 12235/36 Anand Vihar T._ Madhupur Jn. Humsafar Express, 22401 Delhi Sarai Rohilla- Udhampur AC Express, 12280/79 Taj Express and 12497/98 Shan-e-Punjab Express. 

IRCTC To Make E-Tickets Costlier; Service Charges Restored

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which is the ticketing arm of the Indian Railways has decided to apply service charges on e-tickets which were removed previously to promote online buying of tickets.

However, this gave drastic results, as IRCTC noticed a 26% fall in the revenue obtained from the ticket booking of Indian Railways in the financial year 2016-2017. 

The new charges will be applicable starting September 1, 2019. 

The letter, by the IRCTC states, “In view of the advice given by the Ministry of Finance, the competent authority has decided that IRCTC may take a suitable decision on the imposition/restoration of convenience fee/service charges and the quantum to be levied.”

Previously, the IRCTC charged Rs. 20 on every non-AC e-ticket and Rs 40 for every AC ticket.

And now the changed rules say that you will be charged Rs. 15 and Rs. 30 for non-AC and AC classes respectively, when you book your online ticket. 

If you pay for your online ticket through UPI/BHIM applications, Rs. 10 and Rs. 20 will be charged as a convenience fee for non-AC and AC class respectively.