Today (26 December 2025) has brought mixed news for railway passengers. The new prices of railway tickets have become effective from today, which will have a direct impact on those traveling long distances. Under the new system, now passengers traveling more than 215 kilometers will have to shell out a little more. This increase has been implemented in all classes from general class to mail-express and air-conditioned (AC). However, it is a matter of relief that at present there has been no change in fares on short journeys, suburban trains (local) and ordinary class journeys up to 215 kilometers, which has brought great relief to the daily commuters.
Increase of 1 paise per kilometer in ordinary class and 2 paise per kilometer in AC-sleeper, will have direct impact on long distance passengers.
Under the new fare policy, different rates of increase have been fixed for different categories. If you are traveling in Ordinary non-AC class and your journey is more than 215 kilometers, then you will have to pay an additional fare of 1 paisa per kilometer. At the same time, in non-AC classes (like 2S, Sleeper and First Class) of mail and express trains, this increase has been made by 2 paise per kilometer. Apart from this, passengers in all AC classes (AC Chair Car, 3AC, 2AC, 1AC and Executive Class) will also have to pay an additional charge of 2 paise per kilometer. This decision of Railways will affect the budget of those passengers who often travel long distances from one city to another.
Big relief to daily commuters and those traveling short distances, no fare increase on suburban and ordinary journeys up to 215 kilometers.
Amidst fare hike, Railways has taken special care of the common man and the working class. There has been no increase in the fares of season ticket (MST) and suburban i.e. local trains, that is, the old fare will remain applicable. Apart from this, those traveling up to 215 kilometers in Ordinary Second Class have also been exempted from this increase. This means that passengers will not have to spend extra money for short journeys between nearby cities. This step of Railways has provided relief to lakhs of passengers who travel short distances for work every day.
Now you will have to pay more to go from Delhi to Patna, Mumbai and Kolkata, know how expensive your ticket is on major routes.
The effect of this increase is clearly visible on the fares on major routes. For example, traveling from Delhi to Patna (about 1,000 km) will cost you around Rs 10 extra for a general ticket, Rs 20 for sleeper class and Rs 20 for third AC. Now the sleeper fare of Delhi-Patna has increased from Rs 520 to around Rs 540-545. Similarly, passengers going from Delhi to Kolkata (about 1,500 km) will have to spend Rs 15 more on general tickets and about Rs 30 more on sleeper and AC classes. On the Delhi-Mumbai route too, there is an estimated increase of about Rs 30 in sleeper class and up to Rs 40 in AC class. However, this difference may be more or less in trains with dynamic pricing.
Fare rationalization will bring Rs 600 crore annually to the railway treasury, there will be a burden of Rs 10 on passengers’ pockets for every 500 km.
This has been named “Fare Rationalization” by Railways. This exercise is expected to generate additional earnings of about Rs 600 crore annually for the Railways, which can be utilized in the development of passenger amenities and infrastructure. If the burden on the common passenger is averaged out, then a non-AC journey of 500 kilometers will cost approximately Rs 10 extra. Experts believe that this increase is not very much, but its minor impact can definitely be seen on the monthly budget of regular long distance travelers.
