My calculations are based on what i could access from internet... they might not be accurate...but they will surely raise some eyes ...(( PICS attached ))
___________________________________ > Every year in railways budget, Mr. Laloo prasad, railway minister had been claiming that they haven't increased fares at all. * > What he has been hiding is that they have used a false method of calculation to show fares haven't increased.* > Here are the calculations for Hyderabad to Chennai... Normal Ticket for Hyderabad to Chennai - Rs. 297/- So considering, 13 bogies and 72 passengers per bogie, amount earned by railways would be = 297*13*72 = *2,77,992.* And hence the railways has been claiming that fare has remained 297 for ages now. But here is the flaw. * Tatkal quota.* Recently tatkal quota has been undergoing lots of changes and for most trains it stands a *minimum* at 10% tatkal. (I am not sure but in trains between metros it is considered to be much higher as people can pay tatkal amount easily - My friend had heard that tatkal quota becomes 50% in peak season) Tatkal amount charged is available here @ http://www.indianrail.gov.in/tatkal.html Now this extra *non-refundable* Rs. 150 for tatkal is added for say 10% of passengers which amounts to = 297*13*72 +150*10%*13*72 = 2,77,992 + 14,040 = *2,92,032.* *So average fare is not 297 for this journey but (292032/(13*72)) = 312.* So, In name of tatkal the government is hiding the average fare from *Rs. 312 to Rs. 297*, *a healthy 5% more *than what is being said *for this journey.* *5% is huge increase in fare as far as i know. Also it would be different for different locations and journeys. The biggest loser in this process is people who book ticket normally and not through tatkal.* *The perfect example for that is given in the picture where for a hyd-chennai journey we have 250 odd tickets available in railways in tatkal quota and waiting list in general quota. * Also, for sleeper class tatkal amount is 150 and A/c its upto 300.(Rs. 150 = half of journey fare --> ridiculously true) Maybe my calculations are not perfect but surely they make sense. Something which railways has been hiding. You can do your own calculations any day for any journey. I found this trivia for both my hyd-chennai and hyd-mumbai journey. *Ideally I have no problem with tatkal quota, but I have problem with the wrong fare being displayed by Ministers. *_____ ________________________________________________________________________________ http://mahek.m.shah.googlepages.com/home -- Please don't print this e-mail unless you really need to. Save Paper - Save Environment -- Mahek
