Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that Pakistan Railways has increased rail fares by up to 19 percent owing to recent depreciation of rupee against the dollar. According to the railways notification, the passengers' fares of different trains and classes have been rationalised which would be effective from December 7, 2018.
The railways minister had announced that rail fares will be increased owing to depreciation of rupee against the dollar. The value of dollar against the rupee has increased. Due to steep depreciation of rupee against the US dollar, it has become inevitable to increase fares of some trains. The rail fares of around 40 trains will be increased, while fares of 100 other trains will remain unchanged, the minister had added.
According to the notification, under the new fare schedule, there will be an increase of 10 percent i.e. Rs 540 of Green Line train from Karachi to Islamabad. The new fare price will be Rs 5,880 per person against the current Rs 5,340.
There has been an increase of 12 percent in the fare of Karachi Express, Business Express, Shalimar and Shah Hussain Express while 13 percent in Khyber Mail, Awam Express and Allama Iqbal Express fares. Pakistan Express' fare has been increased by 19 percent.
Under the new fare schedule, there will be a hike of as much as Rs 500 on the business class of Green Line train and Karakoram Express from Karachi to Lahore. The economy class fare has been raised by Rs 170 whereas fare of A/C sleeper of Karachi Express, Business Express, Shalimar and Shah Hussain has been increased by Rs 670.
The A/C sleeper, business class and economy class fares of Khyber Mail Express, which runs from Karachi to Peshawar, will increase by Rs 850, Rs 600 and Rs 190 respectively. The fares of Tezgam train from Karachi to Rawalpindi has been surged by Rs 890 for A/C sleeper, Rs 660 for business class and Rs 210 for economy class.