Success of Humsafar Express prompts Railways to expand 3-tier AC coverage

Indian Railways

The Indian Railways is putting its money where the profits are. Having discovered that air-conditioned 3-tier coaches are turning out to be a money-spinner, the Railways will now add more such compartments to  trains in an effort to boost its flagging finances.

The Financial Express quoted a Railway Board official as saying that the Railways are also planning to increase the number of routes and frequency of Humsafar Express trains. These trains have only 3-tier AC coaches that are slightly more spruced up than the coaches of the same class in normal passenger trains.

The official said there were plans to make the Guwahati-Bengaluru Humsafar Express a daily service since it has been doing well with a 70-plus occupancy on an average.

The Humsafar Express trains operate on the surge pricing model, which sees ticket prices go up if occupancy increases, thereby bettering the chances of profitability.

The success of the train prompted the Railways to order 1,000 new AC 3 tier coaches for the current financial year as against the 500 planned earlier.

AC 3 tier is the only profitable segment for the railways, with subsidised rates weighing down its finances for years.

In August 2016, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced four new categories of trains - Humsafar Express, Tejas and UDAY (Utkrisht Double-Decker Air-conditioned Yatri) for reserved passengers and ‘Antyodaya’, an unreserved train for the economically backward sections.

According to a Business Line report, 8.4 crore passengers travelled by AC 3-tier against a total of 5.4 crore passengers including all other AC segments in the second quarter of 2017.