Railway Ticket Price Hike: A big burden on the common man at the end of the year, how much more expensive have railway tickets become?

A new railway passenger fare structure will come into effect across the country from today. ​​Under this, the prices of tickets for different classes of railway travel have been increased. However, if you booked your ticket before December 26th, you will not have to pay the increased fare.

Let's understand how this increase has been implemented.

How much has the price increased?
The fare for Sleeper and First Class, and Ordinary Class travel outside suburban areas has been increased by one paisa per kilometer. According to the Ministry of Railways, the aim of this move is to balance affordability with sustainability.

The railways have increased fares in a graded manner for Second Class Ordinary, Sleeper Class Ordinary, and First Class Ordinary for non-AC (non-suburban) services.

The fare for Second Class Ordinary remains unchanged for journeys up to 215 kilometers. This will not affect short-distance and daily commuters.
For distances between 216 kilometers and 750 kilometers, the fare has been increased by ₹5. For distances between 751 kilometers and 1,250 kilometers, the increase is ₹10.

Similarly, for distances between 1,251 kilometers and 1,750 kilometers, the increase is ₹15,
and for distances between 1,751 km and 2,250 km, the increase is ₹20.
The ministry said that suburban services and season tickets, including those on suburban and non-suburban routes, will not be affected. A nominal increase of 2 paise per kilometer has been implemented across all non-AC and AC classes in Mail and Express trains, including Sleeper, First Class, AC Chair Car, AC 3-Tier, AC 2-Tier, and AC First Class. The statement said that for longer journeys, such as a 500-kilometer non-AC Mail or Express journey, the fare will increase by approximately ₹10. This new fare structure will affect Tejas Rajdhani, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Humsafar, Amrit Bharat, Tejas, Mahamana, Gatimaan, Antyodaya, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Yuva Express, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, and general non-suburban services.

Reservation fees, superfast surcharges, and other charges remain unchanged, and the applicability of GST will not be affected. Fares will continue to be rounded off according to existing rules. The revised fares will only apply to tickets booked on or after December 26, 2025, and no additional charges will be levied on tickets booked before this date. The ministry stated that station fare charts will be updated to reflect the new rates.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.