Inflated distance over Konkan Railway network to calculate fares making travel dearer for patrons

Discover why fares on Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express are inflated due to distance escalation by Konkan Railway.

Did you ever wonder why you pay ₹1,330 total fare from Mangaluru Central to Madgaon (318 km) in the Chair Car class of Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express while you pay ₹1,615 for almost double the distance from Mangaluru Central to Thiruvananthapuram Central (620 km) on Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram VB Express?

Because the Madgaon VB Express runs on the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., (KRCL) network from Thokur till Madgaon where the Corporation inflates the distance by 40% to calculate fares. Consequently, passenger fares for all kinds of trains are calculated on this inflated distance.

As per the Railway Ministry Fare Table, the actual total fare from Mangaluru Central to Madgaon in the CC class of the VB Express should have been ₹1,136 — base fare ₹655, reservation charges ₹40, superfast charges ₹45, GST ₹32 and catering charges ₹364. However, the KRCL collects a ₹855 base fare (for inflated distance of 445 km) and other charges thereby bringing the total fare to ₹1,330. A passenger thus pay ₹204 extra for travel between Mangaluru and Madgaon.

The Central government had authorised the Konkan Railway to collect passenger fares/ freight tariff by escalating the distance by 40% for passenger traffic and by 50% for freight traffic in 1992 between Roha-Veer and Thokur-Udupi. Subsequently, the same was extended for the entire length of KRCL network from Roha to Thokur when the line was made fully operational in 1998.

The KRCL and Railway Ministry had claimed that the distance escalation through which additional fares/ freight charges were collected was to recover the construction cost of the network, ₹3,555 crore. Continuing to collect the charges on escalated distance even after 26 years of its commencement of operations, KRCL has now added “heavy maintenance cost (due to difficult geographical condition),” to justify the additional collection.

Accordingly, the distance between Roha and Thokur (738 km) is calculated at 1,033.82 km for coaching traffic and 1,107.66 for freight traffic.

Consequently, fares on all trains passing through the KRCL network, was calculated at the escalated distance. For example, the Matsyagandha Express from Mangaluru Central to Mumbai LTT traverses a total distance of 882 km, of which 738 km between Thokur and Roha was subjected to the escalated distance fare calculation.