Passengers travelling on the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains will have to shell out between 10-50 per cent more under a dynamic surge pricing system to be introduced from September 9, aimed at raking in ₹500 crore more for the national transporter in the current fiscal year.

While 10 per cent of the seats will sell at normal fare, charges will rise by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold, with a ceiling of 50 per cent.

For example, the New Delhi-Mumbai 3AC fare on the Rajdhani, which has a base fare of ₹1,628 currently, will be ₹1,791 with a 10 per cent increase, and could go up to ₹2,279 with a 50 per cent increase.

The revised fares will not apply to tickets already issued for journeys to commence on or after September 9, 2016.

Modelled on the dynamic fare system in vogue in the aviation sector, the flexi-fare system will be introduced on an experimental basis in the air-conditioned and Chair Car coaches of the three trains, besides the Sleeper Class in Duronto trains.

First AC and Executive Class coaches have been kept out of the new system given that their tariffs are already premium. The base fare for the three premium trains will be on a flexi-fare system, Railway Board Member Mohd Jamshed said. There are a total of 42 Rajdhani trains, 46 Shatabdi and 54 Duronto trains.

The passenger revenue target for the current fiscal year is ₹51,000 crore, as against ₹45,000 crore last fiscal year.

For II AC and Chair Car, the maximum hike will be 50 per cent, while for III AC, it will be 40 per cent. He said the hike is about one-and-a-half times more in the flexi system.

Other supplementary charges, such as reservation, superfast and catering charges, and service tax as applicable, shall remain unchanged.

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