Eat-Sleep-Railfanning 🔄 Repeat - Shankar Mehani

Airconditioned travel in IR can never become available at affordable fares, because (1) 90% of paxs travel in non ac classes at highly subsidised rates which is a political compulsion for IR
(2) 70% of revenues of IR goes into pay & perks of employees which is a direct result of (a) archaic organisational structure of IR, (b) cumbersome work practices, (c) inadequate modernisation, automation, (d) under worked and not so disciplined manpower.
(3) To pay salary to huge work force, subsidize its major chunk of paxs and to keep trains running,...
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IR try to squeeze maximum money from freight and ac class passengers.
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Ratio of AC to non ac fares in bus varies from 1.3-1.7 times of non ac fares, where as in IR, the ratio is abnormally high at about 2.7-4 times of non ac fares.
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Two factors can make ac travel affordable in IR:
(1) Reduction in inordinately high subsidy (low fares) non ac season tickets, passenger trains as well as in express trains. Persons habitual of traveling 100s of KMs at just 20-25 Rs shall never be in a position to travel in a reasonably subsidised ac travel.
(2) Innovative coach design to reduce cost per seat/berth in ac/nonac seats/berths and keeping the rates reasonable at no profit no loss so that more and more people can afford such ac travel