Commuters have denounced recent hike in the fares of Karachi Express-one of the oldest trains operating from Karachi to Lahore, and urged the government to withdraw its decision.
A senior citizen standing just outside reservation office at City Station said the international oil prices have drastically reduced during the last couple of years and still in declining trend. But the government instead of passing on the benefits has arbitrarily increased the fares of coaches. The move is gross injustice with the commuters, he deplored.
Divisional Commercial Officer (DCO) Nasir Nazeer told Business Recorder, after the decision, fresh fares of economy class coaches of Karachi Express have now increased by Rs 1400 from Rs 1100 while the Air-conditioned class' fares have gone up to Rs 5,500 from Rs 5000, whereas fares of business class coaches surged by Rs 4000 as against Rs 3500 previously.
President Railways Mazdoor Union Muqaddar Zaman said, "Thousands of passengers travel by Karachi Express every day. The management's irrational decision to hike fares would create hardships for poor passengers."
"The management of the Railways should revisit its decision in the interest of commuters. He feared that higher fares would force a number of passengers to adopt alternate means of travelling which would ultimately leave negative impact on the already crisis hit PR's exchequer."
However, the DCO said, "Train was being operated on subsidised fares for the last one year, and travel charges were lower as compared to other trains.
The decision was made in order to equalise the fare structure for all trains.