The Indian Railways recently announced a fare hike, the first one in 5 years. Get all key details of the hike in our developing news story.

Overview
The Indian Railways has made a major announcement that it will revise passenger tariffs from July 1, 2025, which would be the first increase in five years. The move includes gradual adjustments meant to lessen the impact on commuters and is intended to boost income in the face of growing operating expenses.

Fee hike after 5 years
The newly adjusted fare structure will implement slight increases across several categories of train travel:
AC Classes: A rise of 2 paise per kilometre.
Non-AC Mail/Express Trains: An increase of 1 paisa per kilometre.
Ordinary Second Class (for journeys over 500 km): A hike of 0.5 paisa per kilometre.

Certain sectors will not be affected: Suburban rail services, Monthly Season Tickets (MST), and short-distance second-class fares will remain unchanged to ensure daily commuters are not impacted.

This fare adjustment is projected to generate an additional ₹700 crore in revenue for FY 2025–26.

Other policy changes
In addition to the rate change, the Railways are implementing new operational guidelines:

Tatkal ticket purchasing will require Aadhaar-based OTP authentication starting on July 15.

Agents will not be allowed to purchase Tatkal tickets during the first half of the booking window in order to prevent abuse and provide equitable access for all passengers.

Rail Travel Gets Pricier: What the New Fare Hike Means for You

Author: Ufaq Ahmed Ansari