Indian Railways tweaks passenger fares; All you need to know

Indian Railways has rationalised its passenger fare structure with effect from December 26, 2025, introducing calibrated increases across select non-suburban categories while keeping fares unchanged for suburban services and season ticket holders.

Under the revised structure, suburban train fares and all season tickets—both suburban and non-suburban—remain unchanged, ensuring that daily commuters are not affected. The changes are aimed at balancing passenger affordability with the financial sustainability of railway operations, the Railways said.

For Ordinary Non-AC, non-suburban services, fare revisions have been introduced in a graded manner. In Second Class Ordinary, there is no fare increase for journeys up to 215 km. For distances between 216 km and 750 km, fares rise by Rs 5, while longer journeys will see incremental increases—Rs 10 for 751–1,250 km, Rs 15 for 1,251–1,750 km, and Rs 20 for 1,751–2,250 km.

In Sleeper Class Ordinary and First Class Ordinary, fares for non-suburban routes have been revised uniformly at 1 paise per kilometre, resulting in a marginal increase spread over longer distances.

For Mail and Express trains, the Railways has implemented a fare rationalisation of 2 paise per kilometre across both Non-AC and AC classes, including Sleeper Class, First Class, AC Chair Car, AC 3-Tier, AC 2-Tier and AC First Class. As an illustration, a passenger travelling 500 km in a non-AC Mail or Express train will pay approximately Rs 10 extra.

The revised fares apply across major train services such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Amrit Bharat, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Gatimaan, Antyodaya, Mahamana, Yuva Express and Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, among others. Ordinary non-suburban services are also covered, excluding AC MEMU and DEMU services where applicable. The revisions have been implemented uniformly in line with approved class-wise fare changes.

Notably, reservation fees, superfast surcharges and other ancillary charges remain unchanged, and GST applicability continues as per existing rules. Fare rounding norms will also remain the same.

The revised fares will apply only to tickets booked on or after December 26, 2025. Tickets booked before this date will not attract any additional charges, even if the journey is undertaken after the fare revision comes into effect.

Railway stations will update displayed fare lists to reflect the new structure from the effective date, the ministry added.