Indian Railways charging full fare to RAC passengers ‘not justified’: Parliamentary panel

Under the current practice, the railways charge full fare from a passenger to book a berth in trains under the RAC category.

• PAC urges Railways to refund part fare for RAC tickets without confirmed berths
• Committee calls for review of outdated Superfast train speed criteria
• PAC recommends improving punctuality over launching new train services

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Charging passengers full fare for RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) tickets despite not providing a confirmed berth is unjustified, a parliamentary panel has said, urging Indian Railways to refund part of the fare in such cases, news agency PTI reported.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in its report titled “Punctuality and Travel Time in Train Operations in Indian Railways” tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, said that “charging full fare for tickets under RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation), where the ticket holder continues in the RAC category after chart preparation without a berth facility, is not justified.”

Under the current system, passengers booking RAC tickets are charged the full fare even though they may have to share a berth with another RAC passenger or travel without a full sleeping berth.

The committee suggested that the Railway Ministry “should devise a mechanism to refund partial fare to the customer/traveller who could not get a full berth but had to pay full charges at the time of boarding.” It also asked the ministry to inform Parliament of the steps taken in this regard.

The PAC also raised concerns over the classification of “Superfast” trains, pointing out that the existing speed benchmark is outdated. According to the report, Indian Railways decided in May 2007 that a train with an average speed of at least 55 kmph on broad gauge and 45 kmph on metre gauge would qualify as a Superfast train.

The committee noted that “the benchmark of 55 kmph for classifying a train as Superfast is itself low” and flagged that there has been no revision in the criteria since 2007.

It observed that out of 478 Superfast trains currently in operation, 123 have scheduled speeds below the 55 kmph threshold. In response, the Railway Ministry told the committee that 47 of these trains now operate above the benchmark, while additional stoppages over time have reduced the average speed of others.

Expressing dissatisfaction, the report said, “The committee while expressing concern over categorisation of trains running at a mere speed of 55 kmph as ‘Superfast Trains’, convey their unhappiness over lack of adherence to the limit set by the ministry itself.”

The committee went on to state, “The committee are forced to conclude that the demarcation of trains as superfast was to apply higher charges. As and when the speed of trains fell below, the Indian Railways should have removed the train from the Superfast category and revised the fare.”

Calling the benchmark “too conservative and anachronistic,” the panel said it does not match present-day standards, especially when countries like China and Japan operate trains at much higher speeds.

The PAC recommended that the Railway Ministry review and rationalise the Superfast classification criteria to align with global standards, targeting average speeds closer to 100 kmph. It also suggested exploring the feasibility of maintaining such speeds across the entire journey — “from the originating station, through intermediate stops, and up to the terminating point” — by 2030.

Additionally, the committee cautioned against prioritising new train launches at the cost of punctuality, noting that new services often delay existing Express and Superfast trains.

It recommended that Indian Railways focus on improving on-time performance of existing trains rather than introducing more services.