Indian Railway Fares Hiked Friday June 20,2014

Rail passenger fares have been hiked by 14.2 % for all the classes, while the freight charges have been hiked by 6.5%

The new rates will come into effect from June 25,2014
From June 25, 2014 rail passenger fares will increase by 14.2 % and freight rates by 6.5 %, the Railways Ministry said in a statement. The last fare hike was in October 2013. The fare hikes announced on Friday come ahead of the Rail Budget 2014 to be presented by current Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda next month.
Here's how the fares will look after the hike:
Delhi to Kolkata
For express/ mail trains from Delhi to Kolkata you have to pay Rs. 76 more for sleeper class travel. An air-conditioned three-tier journey will cost around Rs. 200 more.
Current Fare         Revised Fare
Sleeper: Rs. 535      Rs. 610
AC 3: Rs. 1,395        Rs. 1593
AC 2: Rs. 2015         Rs. 2301
AC 1: Rs. 3450         Rs. 3939

Delhi to Mumbai
For express/ mail trains from Delhi to Mumbai you have to pay Rs. 75 more for sleeper class travel. An air-conditioned three-tier journey will cost around Rs. 190 more.

Current Fare         Revised Fare
Sleeper: Rs. 520    Rs. 593
AC 3:  Rs. 1350      Rs. 1,541
AC 2: Rs. 1950       Rs. 2226.9
AC 1: Rs. 3335       Rs. 3808
Delhi to Bangalore
For express/ mail trains from Delhi to Bangalore you have to pay Rs. 100 more for sleeper class travel. An air-conditioned three-tier journey will cost around Rs. 260 more on the same route.
Current Fare           Revised Fare
Sleeper: Rs. 715       Rs. 816
AC 3 :     Rs. 1850     Rs. 2112
AC 2:      Rs. 2725     Rs. 3111                             
AC 1:      Rs. 4710     Rs. 5378
Radhanis
Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani
Existing fare        Revised fare
AC 3- Rs. 1514        Rs. 1728
AC 2- Rs. 2197        Rs. 2508
AC 1- Rs. 3813        Rs. 4354

Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani
Existing fare        Revised fare
AC 3 - Rs. 1416       Rs. 1617
AC 2 - Rs. 2064       Rs. 2357
 AC-1 - Rs. 3567      Rs. 4073

Delhi-Chennai Rajdhani
Existing fare        Revised fare
AC 3 - Rs. 1856      Rs. 2119
AC 2 - Rs. 2740      Rs. 3129
AC 1 - Rs. 4755      Rs. 4673

Delhi-Bangalore Rajdhani
Existing fare        Revised fare
AC 3- Rs. 1924       Rs. 2197
AC 2- Rs. 2864       Rs. 3270
AC 1- Rs. 4989       Rs. 5697

The increase in rail fares and freight charges is expected to fuel inflation, which already rose to a 5-month high of 6.01 % in May 2014 based on wholesale prices.

While higher railway fares will directly add to the travel cost, the increase in freight rates is expected to impart a cost-push effect to the inflationary spiral as the cost of transporting goods goes up.

This increase in charges on goods will eventually be passed on to consumers.

The latest figures show that food inflation touched 9.50 % during May 2014, while inflation in manufactured goods was 3.55 %

Populism kills any economy but Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot let that happen.

So on Friday June 20,2014, his first "bitter pill" arrived by the Indian Railways to begin a rescue mission.

The decision to hike the passenger fares and freight charges of the railways was given a go-ahead.

It was a hard choice that the Modi government had to make --- to allow the hike or not

But Prime Minister Modi believes India today needs tough governance.

And for that he will leave no stone unturned.

The decision to hike passenger fares and freight charges comes at a time when India is just coming out of the dark shadow of United Progressive Alliance rule.

Citizens are still reeling under the scorching heat of price rise which the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance government failed to tackle.

Announcing the decision, less than a month after the NDA government took over, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda said, "I was forced to implement the order that was done by my predecessor. I am only withdrawing the withholding order."

He said the interim budget presented by the previous government had assumed certain revenues on the basis of the proposed hike that was announced on May 16.

"Meeting the annual expenditure would not be possible unless the revised rates as finalised by previous government is implemented, hence order of withdrawing implementation of revised fare and freight has been withdrawn," said the Railway Ministry, which is incurring a loss of about Rs 900 crore per month in passenger segment.

"Accordingly, the revised passenger fare and freight rates and freight structure rationalization will come into effect from June 25, 2014,"