Shiv Sena MPs meet railway minister amid fare hike row

Shiv Sena and BJP parliamentarians today met Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda as protests rage over the Centre’s decision to hike railway fares. The NDA government’s decision to hike rail fares has been met with severe criticism, including from allies like Shiv Sena who have been protesting the massive hike for Mumbai local commuters. The Narendra Modi-led government hiked rail fares by a steep 14.2 percent and freight charges by 6.5 percent. Already hit hard by the poor and inefficient services, the woes of the suburban rail commuters in the metropolis are going to be compounded further with the season ticket rates going up by more than double across classes. [caption id=“attachment_1346041” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational Image. Reuters[/caption] The local trains are the lifeline for the over two crore people of the Mumbai metropolitan region. The city local services consist of three lines — the Western, Central and Harbour lines, ferrying together over 70 lakh people per day. As per the revised fares, effective 25 June, a Rs 85 monthly season ticket (II Class) will now cost Rs 150, while a Rs 190 monthly pass will be priced at Rs 480. Similarly, the monthly first class season pass of Rs 795 has been revised to Rs 1,930. Likewise, a first class commuter with a monthly pass of Rs 1,740 will now have to shell out Rs 2,120 more for the same journey. “Second class monthly season tickets fares shall be charged on the basis of 30 single journeys instead of around 15 single journeys charged currently,” the Railways said in a statement. Fares of First Class monthly season tickets will be charged four times that of the Second Class monthly season tickets fares. With inputs from PTI