Railway fares

This refers to the article “Putting the Railways on profit track” (Business Line, March 2). The suggestion that the revenue loss incurred from subsidising fares for the sleeper and second-class passengers must be compensated by charging a higher fare for the AC passengers is too simplistic.

When it is said that a fourth of the total passenger revenue is derived from the air-conditioned class, it should be remembered that much of this comes from the fully air-conditioned trains such as the Rajdhani which have a separate rate structure.

In normal trains, there are only two or three air-conditioned coaches as against 9-10 sleeper coaches and three-four unreserved second-class coaches. How can AC passengers can compensate the revenue loss incurred on account of second-class passengers?

V. Krishnamachari

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Growth target

This refers to the speech of the RBI Governor at the Kanpur IIT alumni meet, where he stated that 5-6 per cent growth was not enough. He had detailed the requirements for a double-digit growth (Business Line, March 4) — stable macro-economic environment, removal of infrastructure deficit, etc. He, however, omitted policy paralysis.

T. Anandan

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