Railways has increased the passenger fare by 14.2 percent in all classes and freight charges by 6.5 percent. The revised rates will be effective from 25th of this month. Under the passenger fare hike, a flat 10 percent increase has been done in all classes and an additional 4.2 per cent increase under fuel adjustment component linked revision scheme.

An official release said, the hike has been done as part of interim budget presented by the previous government. But the implementation of revised rates was withdrawn by the UPA regime because of the elections. Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda said that he has only implemented the order of previous government related to fare hike.

Mr Gowda said, meeting the annual expenditure of Railways will not be possible unless the revised rates as finalized by previous government is implemented.

Meanwhile, Railways has promised to review the additional burden due to oil price fluctuation if the price of oil decreases. In a press release, the ministry said the figure of 14.2 per cent hike in passenger fare and 6.5 per cent hike in freight rates is inclusive of the Fuel Adjustment Component.

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today justified the railway fare hike by 14.2 per cent saying it was a result of the policies undertaken by the previous UPA government. Talking to a news channel in New Delhi, Mr Prasad blamed the Congress-led regime for leaving the Railways in shambles.

The Law Minister said the liability of 10 years of malfunction was being put on the NDA government. He accepted that the steep hike may be harsh on the common man, but said these hard steps would ultimately benefit the people.