Under pressure from Manmohan Singh and the Planning Commission to generate revenue in an internal manner to fund two prominent projects – bullet trains and dedicated freight corridor – Indian Railways has finally done what they are asked of by the government: Increasing passenger fares in all classes.

The proposed increase, in the vicinity of 2 paise to 10 paise per km across all classes, will come into effect from January 21.

The country’s biggest transporter is all set to net an additional Rs 6,000- 6,500 crore in revenue, pointed out rail minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

If you travel by second class mail and express trains, your journey is going to be costlier by 4 paise per km. On the other hand, it is going to be 6 paise per km in sleeper class.

Travellers of AC chair car and AC three tier have to give 10 paise more per km.

The timing of the decision is quite a surprise.

According to the sources, Ahluwalia told Bansal to expedite the bidding routine of number of infrastructure projects, including those pertaining to the freight corridor and bullet trains.

Political parties reacted in a manner that was pretty much expected of them. While Congress support the decision, BJP term it as “unacceptable” and “atrocious”.

“The government goes on increasing the price but they do not increase amenities and safety of the railways. It is absolutely unacceptable and atrocious,” pointed out Prakash Javedekar, BJP spokesperson.