Deccan Queen - मेरे सपनों की रानी

Other modes of transportation bhi aur affordable ho gaye. And when IR has been neglected by RM's for several decades, this was bound to happen. When IR was in profits during the late 2000's, all the profits were wasted in covering up the passenger fare subsidy by not increasing fares in line with increasing operating costs. Luckily, air transport was still not very affordable at that time even for the upper middle class, and most people preferred trains even if they were slower.
Ab toh flight fares bahut affordable ho gaye hai middle class ke liye, par IR ki trains ke speed mein koi increase nahi. Toh passengers ko ab ek option mil raha hai. Aur trains...
more...

ko speed up karne mein kai saal lag jayenge kyunki tracks aur infrastructure ke liye bahut paise chahiye.
IR's revenue is falling now. And to increase the revenue, freight traffic has to be increased and passenger trains have to be sped up. But to do either of these, IR needs a lot of money to upgrade the infrastructure. And their only direct option is to increase fares. When IR had the required funds to invest in improving itself, all of them were wasted to gain political mileage. And now, when IR desperately needs money to improve itself, it has none!! Despite knowing that such move would amount to political suicide, the RM and the railway board are taking these decisions. This shows how desperate the situation is !!
A fare hike of 10 Rs per month is rather too high. But at least there should be a fare revision at least once in 2 years, with a nominal hike/cut to match the operating costs.