Travelling between Mysuru and Bengaluru by Shatabdi Express has just got cheaper with the railways offering a discounted fare for the journey.
This has come into effect from Monday as per a release and is part of the Railways’ larger scheme of offering discounted fare in select sectors on Shatabdi trains.
As against a fare of Rs. 438 which was being charged till Sunday, the passengers are now being levied Rs. 300. The revised rates are now on par with the highest class of travel by the KSRTC’s Airavat club class service which costs Rs.299. The base fare has been revised from Rs.257 to Rs.125 and the service tax from Rs.15 to Rs.9 but other charges including catering charges, reservation charges and superfast charges remain unchanged.
The revised fare is applicable for both the legs of the journey between Mysuru and Bengaluru on 12007 Chennai Central-Mysore Shatabdi Express and 12008 Mysore-Chennai Central Shatabdi Express. The revised fare is being introduced on an experimental basis and will be in vogue for six months, the release added.
The flexi fare system is also not applicable for travel in the above sections and neither will concessions will be admissible on the revised fare. S.G.Yatish,, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, told The Hindu that the objective was to enhance revenue by increasing the occupancy rates and competing with Volvo services of the KSRTC. “A good number of passengers travel by Shatabdi during weekends and if we could divert even if a small portion of bus passengers our occupancy rates and revenue will increase’’, he added.
Another advantage is travelling to Majestic which is the heart of Bengaluru in less than 2 hours while the bus travel takes at least three-and-a-half hours during peak hours and the passengers have to disembark at the satellite bus station. The revised Shatabdi fare also compares with the AC Chair car fares of other express trains operating in the section which is Rs.290 inclusive of Rs.30 superfast charges. A similar discounted fare has been introduced for passengers travelling between the Ajmer-Jaipur and Jaipur-Kishangarh sections by the New Delhi-Ajmer Shatabdi Express.
