Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Credit: DH Photo/S K Dinesh
Ahmedabad: Every passenger gets 55 per cent concession on train journeys, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said regarding demands to restore pre-Covid fare concessions for senior citizens and media persons.
Without giving any direct reply to questions by media persons on the restoration of concessions, Vaishnaw said, "The Indian Railway is already offering 55 per cent concession on train fares to every train passenger.” Vaishnaw was in Ahmedabad to review the progress of the ongoing bullet train project among other things.
Before the Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March 2020, the Railways offered 50 per cent concession on train fares to senior citizens and government-accredited journalists.
Railway operations were completely shut down during the lockdown but when its full-fledged resumption in June 2022, the Railway Ministry didn’t restore these concessions and since then the issue has been raised on various platforms, including in both houses of parliament.
Vaishnaw maintained a similar stand in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on various occasions when questioned by many fellow parliamentarians.
On Thursday, when media persons raised it during a press briefing in Ahmedabad, Vaishnaw said, “If a train ticket to a destination costs Rs 100, Railway is charging only Rs 45. It is giving Rs 55 concession.”
Earlier, responding to an RTI application filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur, the Indian Railways said that it earned about Rs 2,242 crore from approximately 15 crore senior citizens in the financial year 2022-23.