Passenger train fares to rise soon

Passenger train fares are going to be increased soon as Bangladesh Railway is set to cancel rebating the fares of passengers travelling over 100 kilometers.

Currently, BR gives a 20-30 percent rebate for those travelling over 100km, meaning the fares for most destinations will rise, officials said.

The fare rebates are: 20 percent for a passenger traveling between 101km and 150km; 25 percent for 251km to 400km and 30 percent rebate for distance over 401km.

All of these rebates are going to be cancelled.

However, the fare up to 100km will remain unchanged, which means fares of several local trains operating on routes like Dhaka-Narayanganj or Dhaka-Joydebpur will likely remain the same, they added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has already given the go ahead to BR's proposal, Sardar Shahadat Ali, who is serving as director general as part of additional charges of BR said.

"We are planning on implementing this decision from April 1," he told The Daily Star yesterday, adding that an increase in fares would be the inadvertent outcome. 

The last time BR hiked fares was in February 2016 by 7.23 percent.

Before that in October 2012, both passenger and freight train fares were raised by 50 percent to improve services and reduce railway losses, and that move came after 20 years.

According to the BR Information Book-2021, the average distance travelled by a passenger is 152.48km.

BR operates 367 passenger trains and 42 freight trains daily on 3,554km of rail tracks.