The user fee, which will be collected by the Indian Railways for the redevelopment and modernization of railway station infrastructure will already be included in the ticket as it is done in air travel.
The railway board will soon start charging a token user fee from the passengers who will be taking trains from the busy stations. The decision by the Railways will lead to a marginal increase in the total fare of the tickets.
The user fee, which will be collected by the Indian Railways for the redevelopment and modernization of railway station infrastructure will already be included in the ticket as it is done in air travel.
As per the Indian Railways authorities, a very small amount will be charged as a user fee and an official notification regarding the user charge. The board mentioned it as an important step as the Railways is focusing on providing world-class facilities.
User fee for busy Railway Stations:
According to the Railway Board CEO and Chairman VK Yadav, an official notification will be issued for the user charge for stations which include the existing ones that are being redeveloped and also those which are not being redeveloped.
Once the redevelopment of the stations is completed, the user fee will go to the concessionaries but till then the collected user fee will be utilized by the Railways for providing better facilities to the passengers across the stations. Mr. Yadav further added that the charge will be affordable and will not bother the passengers.
Will the user fee be collected at all the stations?
Railway Board CEO and Chairman VK Yadav informed that there are about 7000 stations in the Indian Railways Network and the user fee will be charged at barely 10-15% of these stations where the crowd is projected to increase in the next five years. Given to this calculation, the number of such potential stations will be between 700 and 1000.
A spokesperson from the Railway Ministry further added that the value of the benefit will be outweighing the minimalistic user fee. It will be done in a phased manner and bringing 10-15% station under the plan is the final possibility.
