Humsafar Express with dynamic pricing to be launched today

New Delhi: The much awaited Humsafar Express with dynamic fares will be launched on Friday from Delhi.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will flag off the fully AC-3 service train between Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar from here through video-conferencing.

However, passengers have to shell out 1.15% more as base fare than the normal Mail/Express AC-3 rate since the train is equipped with coffee/tea/soup vending machine, hot and refrigerated pantry and other facilities in each cabin.

"Since manufacturing cost of these coaches with modern facilities is higher than the normal AC coaches there has to be special fares for these services, a senior railway ministry official said.

According to the Humsafar fare structure, 50% of the tickets will be made available for passengers on 1.15% higher base fare and thereafter 10% increase on every 10% tickets sold on subsequent bookings.

For example, the normal Mail/Express AC-3 base fare is Rs 960 which will become Rs 1104, an increase by 1.15%. After 50% sale of total tickets, the base fare will go up to Rs 1214, an increase of 10% for 10% berths then it will again surge by another 10% increase for subsequent 10% bookings.

Finally, the highest fare will be Rs 1656, an increase of 1.5% from the base fare for the last 10% berths.

Other additional charges like reservation fee, superfast charges, service tax, will be levied separately.

While the passengers have to pay for their meals if booked, separately, the bedroll is inclusive of fare.

Prabhu had announced during the presentation of Rail Budget 2016-17 that there will be seven Humsafar Express trains for inter-city overnight journey, with many additional facilities which are otherwise not available in normal AC-3 coaches.

CCTV, GPS-based passenger information system, fire and smoke detection and suppression system, mobile and laptop charging points with every berth are some of the features on Humsafar trains.

Besides, Humsafar will have improved aesthetics with new interior and exterior colour scheme presenting a futuristic look with the use of vinyl sheets similar to Maharaja Express coaches. It will also have integrated braille displays. Indian Railways has introduced surge fares on Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains from September 9.