2024-05-05 14:05:44
The government has decided to withdraw concessions (discounts) for passenger trains. This decision is effective from Saturday (May 4). It will increase the fare of all types of trains including intercity, mail, local and commuter trains. However, the fare will remain unchanged for travel up to 100 km.
According to railway sources, currently no concession is given for traveling up to 100 km by rail. But there are different levels of concessions for more trips. For example, 20 percent discount is given on the fare for the next 101 to 250 km. A discount of 25 percent is available for traveling between 251 and 400 km. And above 401 km discount is 30 percent.
In a circular on April 22, Bangladesh Railway announced the decision to withdraw concessions and make them effective. It is said in the railway circular, ‘For general information, distance wise and section wise concessions are given in Bangladesh Railway in 1992. In 2012, the ‘Sectional Rebate’ was abolished but the distance based Rebate remains in force. Recently, it has been decided to withdraw only the existing distance-based concession without increasing fares in passenger trains.
According to railway sources, currently the base fare on railways is 39 paise per kilometer. In addition to this, air-conditioned (AC) and other higher class fares are added at various rates. VAT is added. This is how the total fare is determined. This time in case of distance more than 100 km more additional fare will be added.
According to the calculations made by the railway officials, the fare of the luxury class from Dhaka to Chittagong will increase by 60 taka. AC Snigdha class fare may increase by Rs.120. And the fare for sleeping (berth) in an AC room will increase by 216 taka. However, the fare will not increase in any train for short distance (less than 100 km) from Dhaka to Narsingdi, Joydevpur, Faridpur.
Railway sources say that due to revenue deficit, the government has taken various initiatives to increase income from various sectors. In this, the losses of the railways have exceeded 2000 crore rupees annually. In such a situation, the issue of increase in railway fare comes to the fore. In this situation, the Railways took the initiative to increase the income by canceling the concession without increasing the fare. In this, the company has estimated that it will be able to earn an additional income of 300 crore rupees annually.
According to related sources, the approval of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the withdrawal of concessions was sent last February. Prime Minister’s approval on March 2. The Ministry of Railways then wrote to the Railway Authority to implement it. The authorities had decided to implement the withdrawal of exemption from April 1. But the issue got stuck when Railway Minister Zillul Hakim gave the effective instructions after a few days.
All over the world, all modes of transport are given concessions to encourage long-distance travel, railway officials said. Since 1992 fixed concession is being given in Railways. At that time fare concessions were given for longer distances as well as certain routes. In 2012, rail fares were increased by an average of 50 percent. At that time certain area based concessions were cancelled. In 2016, the rent was increased by another round of 7 and a half percent. However, concessions for long distance travel remain in effect. However, no concession has been kept on trains running on the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar route, which was launched at the end of last year.