Mumbai: With air fares taking a dip because of bitter price wars between low-fare airlines and rail fares sky-rocketing, the time is not far off when it would be cheaper and convenient to fly than take a train. Â
After the steep 14.2% hike in rail fares, a Rajdhani Express Mumbai-Delhi 2-tier AC ticket will cost Rs 2,511. A SpiceJet flight ticket on August 19 costs Rs 3,564.
A passenger travelling in Rajdhani Express II AC from Delhi to Chennai will now have to shell out around Rs 500 more. Similarly, travel between Kolkata and Delhi will turn costlier by about Rs 400 for Rajdhani II AC passengers.
The Indian Railways have been charging the highest freight rates in the world to cross-subsidise heavy losses incurred in carrying passengers at fares that are among the lowest in the world.
This was part of the populist policy of previous governments that the Modi government has now reversed. While the railways had a market share of 65% in the goods movement of the country in 1986-87, this has now come down to 30%.
While airline tickets will still be at least Rs 1,000 costlier now than rail tickets. Incidentally, the Railways are incurring a loss of around Rs 900 crore per month in the passenger segment, and the freight segment is cross-subsidising the operations.
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