LAHORE: The Pakistan Railways has decided to increase the fares of all passenger trains, with effect from Friday (today). Notification in this regard has been issued here on Thursday.
According to the notification, “Fares would be increased by one percent for all mail, express, intercity, and passenger trains, including outsourced services. Due to the increase in prices of diesel, it was necessary to rationalise the fare.”
The notification further said, “The fares for all freight and goods trains would be increased by two percent.”
All stations, booking offices, reservation offices, and relevant staff had been informed in this regard.
It may be mentioned here that on June 11, the Pakistan Railways slashed train fares by 25 percent to facilitate passengers during Eidul Azha 2024 festivities.
The Pakistan Railways announced a reduction in fares for three days of Eidul Adha 2024, which was applicable on all passenger trains except for Eid special trains.
Back in May 2024, the Pakistan Railways announced reduction in train fares across various classes.
The economy class fares of some trains had been reduced up to 54% while the air-conditioned class fares were reduced by 40%.
It is pertinent to mention here the Pakistan Railways collected an amount of over Rs 76 million from ticket-less passengers in a crackdown during the last six months with the help of railway police and train staffers.
“Around 59,143 passengers were found travelling without tickets in different trains and collected the said amount from them, which is deposited in the official bank account of the department,” sources in the Pakistan Railways told.
They said that it was not the first time that action was taken on a large scale against ticket-less passengers, adding that these types of crackdowns had taken place daily.
The sources said that ticket-less travelling was illegal, and those who were caught without a ticket were charged a ticket price for the whole journey of the train besides the penalty. Those who do not pay are handed over to the railway police.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024