RAIPUR: Aiming to provide better facility to people, Raipur Railway Division would facilitate circular tickets at counter number 2 of the reservation counter at the railway station. 
The tickets would be available from 2pm to 5pm. Passengers can get the details of these tickets in the railway time table as well as the display boards at the counter. 
Circular tickets are a concept of Indian Railways that provides the facility of booking tickets as per passengers' convenience when they wish to go on a tour or pilgrimage. These tickets offer travel flexibility and a complete tour for travelling in all classes. A maximum of eight break journeys will be admissible on these tickets. 
These cover popular destinations for the convenience of tourists. The...
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details of route, fare etc for these tickets can be obtained from nominated stations in each zonal railway. Another advantage is that passengers can inform the zonal railways about their itinerary and circular journey tickets can be drawn up to suit the requirements. 
Circular tickets give the benefit of telescopic rates, which are considerably lower than regular point to point fare. It provides 40% concession for male senior citizens and 50% concession for female senior citizens when travelling a minimum distance of 1000km. There are about 60 kinds of routes available to choose from. 
In another development, railways have launched a Kumbh special train from Allahabad-Raipur-Allahabad, which would start running from February 11. Train no 04124 would start from Allahabad on February 11 while train no 04123 would begin from Raipur on February 12 at 1.30pm. The train would run on February 12 and 17. It would have 2 SLR coaches, 5 general coaches and 12 sleeper coaches. Source - Times of India

In India, trains are one of the easiest and cheapest modes of transport. Over the years, booking train tickets has become convenient using the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation) website. In fact, according to the comScore and ASSOCHAM India report, IRCTC is the leading travel e-commerce site in the country with the highest transaction share in the travel category. One out of five online users in India visits the Indian Railways site, with almost 12 million unique visitors monthly and majority of the traffic is seen between 10 am to 12 pm. It is during this time that IRCTC allows booking Tatkal tickets, which means tickets that are reserved for people with last minute travel plans, travel emergencies and so on. IRCTC receives a lot of flak for its slow, sluggish performance and had become a laughing stock when the site crashed (server inability, low bandwidth) during the...
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festivities last year, just minutes after Tatkal bookings began. Currently, it is said to sell about 40-45,000 Tatkal railway tickets between 10 am and 11 am (its 10 and 11, because all tickets are sold in one hour – in fact, 45 mins), which it plans to spruce up to 60-65,000 with the help of its new Rs. 10 crore drive for better, upgraded servers to 64GB RAM. This will allow 80 lakh concurrent connections compared to the current 10 lakh. The Tatkal online booking window opens a day in advance before the date of your journey just for an hour and tens of thousands of people try to log into the Tatkal booking system, which makes it as tough as getting into an overcrowded Mumbai local train during the peak office hours.
If you’ve ever tried booking a Tatkal ticket, you will know how important each minute is and how annoying IRCTC’s online passenger reservation system can get. You have to make optimum use of each second as soon as the online booking counter opens, and those 5 to 10 minutes before the counter opens are also very crucial. We’ve laid out a guide to help you book a Tatkal ticket, along with a set of handy tech tools and tips and tricks that will help you bag a confirmed Tatkal ticket faster.
Keep the page active
First, the Tatkal or last minute online booking window opens only a day in advance of your journey between 10 am and 12 am. A person can book only two Tatkal tickets on one user id, so for any more tickets you will need to login using other IRCTC user ids. Now, you need to successfully log into the IRCTC reservation system at exactly 10 a.m., but remember, there are tens of thousands of other people trying to log into the site, so one needs to be really quick. Try to login using multiple accounts on different browsers such as Mozilla, Chrome, Opera or take a hand from your pals 10 minutes before. For this, ensure that your time is synced with the IRCTC server time, so that there are no issues due to difference in time as a delay in a minute means lesser chances of getting a ticket.
To know the IRCTC server time, click here, key in any number, click on “Get Schedule” and the lower right side will show you the exact broswer time at IRCTC, or you can even log into your IRCTC account. Besides, you can also use the Firefox add-on tool to sync the time with your computer. By installing the add-on, the userscript will provide the realtime view of what the server time is once you log into your IRCTC account. This add-on is also available for Chrome.
Once you log in with the IRCTC account, the key is to keep the session active. Those who have tried booking a Tatkal ticket may have often faced the error which says “Session expired”, which means you have to start logging in again, and this delay can cost you your ticket. To keep the session alive, ensure that the screen doesn't go idle for more than 3 minutes, because as soon as it does, the session will expire. So do not spend time thinking which ticket to choose or go hunting for your debit/credit card details at the last minute; keep everything handy so that the screen doesn't go idle.
As the only way to avoid the session from expiring is keeping the page active, here are two handy tricks. You can use this link. All you need to do is make a note of the Session ID and the Engine ID (from the address bar), replace it with your session and engine IDs and use the URL in another browser (For instance, if you are using Chrome, then use it in Firefox) and keep doing it till you complete your booking process. If you think this is a complicated method, then the other trick to keep your session active is by going to the IRCTC website > Login > General > Terms & Conditions. All you need to do is copy the “Terms and Conditions” URL in another browser and keep pinging it every 2-3 minutes.
As soon as you successfully log into IRCTC, choose the starting point and destination, then a list of trains will appear and you can choose the train and the ticket type – Sleeper, 3-tier AC, 2-tier AC and so on. You will then have to key in all the necessary details including an identity proof. One has to be really quick in filling these details and don't forget to keep your identity proof handy. For instance, if you plan to choose the PAN card, then make a note of the PAN number. As you have to be very quick and can't keep typing in details for minutes, here’s what you can do – keep all the information like name of the passengers, age, PAN number handy in a notepad and just copy paste the information while booking the ticket.
Magic Autofill tool
Another alternative is an extremely handy tech tool called Autofill that can be used on Firefox as well as Chrome. Using the autofill add-on or extension, you need to visit IRCTC, say, about half an hour or so before the Tatkal bookings begin. Just go to the usual ticket booking page and fill in your details. Simply follow the booking procedure till you reach the payment gateway and then go no further. The add-ons will ensure that the browser remembers these details and you will not have to spend a lot of time typing them while booking the Tatkal ticket. Another tool you can use is the Magic Autofill. To use this tool, fill in all your details and click on “I’m feeling lucky”, a "Magic Autofill" blue button will appear and you have to drag it into your bookmarks. While booking the Tatkal ticket, once you are done finalising the train and berth, click on the Magic autofill and it will do the rest and you can quickly proceed to payment.
The IRCTC website is jam packed and quite slow during Tatkal booking, so ensure that you are patient and do not double click on anything or hit the backspace button as this will log you off and you will need to start the complete procedure again. You will even come across a message that reads “Service Unavailable”; in this case, just keep refreshing the page. Once you are done with the payment, wait until it takes you back to the IRCTC page (unless the transaction fails).
These tech tools and simple tips and tricks will definitely increase the chances of bagging a confirmed ticket. Do share with us your experience of booking a Tatkal ticket.
Source - tech2.

Railways have decided to run 8 Superfast Airconditioned Weekly special trains between Lokmanya Tilak Terminus – Secunderabad to clear the extra rush of Passengers during winter season.
THE DETAILS ARE AS UNDER –
02702 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus - Secunderabad Special will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 23.05 hrs o­n every Monday from 4.2.2013 to 25.2.2013 (4 trips) and will reach Secunderabad at 11.05 hrs next day.
02701Secunderabad – Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Special will leave Secunderabad at 22.00 hrs o­n every Sunday from 3.2.2013 to 24.2.2013 (4 trips) and will arrive Lokmanya Tilak Terminus at 11.05 hrs next day.
HALTS: Lonavala, Pune, Daund, Solapur, Wadi, Seram and Begumpet.
...
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COMPOSITION: One AC first class, Two AC-2 tier, 8 AC-3 tier, 2 Generators cum Guard’s brake vans and o­ne Pantry car.
RESERVATION: Bookings for 02702 of 4.2.2013 o­nly will open TODAY at all PRS locations. Bookings for 02702 of 11.2.2013, 18.2.2013 & 25.2.2013 will be opened from 6.2.2013 to 8.2.2013 at nominated counters at CSTM o­nly for waitlisted passengers towards Secunderabad. Booking for general passengers will be opened from 9.2.2013 at all PRS locations.

Western Railway achieved an important milestone o­n 5th February, 2012 by converting 84 years old 1500 Volts DC traction system to 25000 Voltes AC tractio n system upto Churchgate. With this conversion, Churchgate station, most important terminus of Western Railway's suburban section, is connected to 25000 Volts AC traction system. At o­ne point of time, it was considered an impossible task because of the complicated infrastructure of Mumbai Suburban section but Railway Engineers made it possible through meticulous planning, latest technology and without affecting the day to day running of suburban trains.
This milestone feat is going to complete o­ne year o­n 5th February, 2013. Due to this conversion, the Mumbai Suburban section has been integrated with 25000 Volts AC traction of Indian Railway enabling seamless connectivity of long distance Mail/Express trains also with the rest of the country.
...
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If we look back, the Alternating Current system has proved beneficial in many aspects. Benefit to the passengers:
Due to DC to AC conversion of Churchgate – Virar section, the loco changeover of Mail/Express long distance trains at Vadodara is no more required. This has resulted in speeding up of nearly 100 long distance trains up to 2 hrs.
On suburban system, due to increased capacity, Western Railway has been able to augment 76 nine-car services to twelve-car services in last o­ne year, which means an introduction of 25 new 9-car services per day. Western Railway has also introduced 36 new suburban services in last o­ne year including 34 twelve-car and two 15-car services. It has helped in increasing the carrying capacity of the lifeline of Mumbai.
Energy Saving:
Due to DC to AC conversion, Energy losses in distribution have been reduced to a great extent. As 21 DC substations early, there are now o­nly 4 AC substations under the 25000 Volts AC system. Also the maintenance of AC traction is much less and economical compared to DC traction system. As a result, Western Railway has been able to achieve a saving of Rs.18.74 Cr o­n energy bill. This also results in less production of harmful CO2 emission in the electricity generating station. The saving in energy consumption has also been due to utilization of latest state-of-the-art technology, 3 phase induction motor and regenerating braking o­n EMU rakes. The average monthly energy consumption has come down from 25.08 million KWH in 2011-12to 23.22 million KWH in 2012-13.
Western Railway plans to add another 50 new suburban services which will include more 15-car trains and Ladies Special.

Chairman, Railway Board, Inaugurates Patiala Statew Mono Rail & Lanunches Audio Guide at the Museum  Winners of All India Drawing & Painting/Essay Competition Organised by RWWCO Felicitated 
National Rail Museum of Ministry of Railways, celebrated its 37th Museum Foundation Day here today. Shri Vinay Mittal, Chairman, Railway Board, was the Chief Guest at the celebrations. On this occasion, Shri Vinay Mittal inaugurated and dedicated to the public, Patiala State Mono Rail TRAMWAYS (PSMT) which has now been displayed at the museum after restoration by the Railways’ engineers and technicians. Shri Mittal also launched the unique Audio Guide System for the benefit of enthusiastic visitors coming to the National Rail Museum. On the occasion, Shri Mittal also felicitated the winners of the All India Drawing & Painting/Essay Competition which was earlier organised for children of Railway employees by the Railway Women’s Welfare...
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Central Organisation (RWWCO). RWWCO is the apex body of the chain of women’s welfare organisations spread over all Indian Railways and engaged in the task of welfare of railwaymen and their families through various need-based socio-welfare activities. Smt. Poonam Mittal, President, RWWCO was specially present on the occasion. A cultural progamme presented by railway employees was also organised on the occasion. 
PSMT was a unique rail guided, partially road-borne railways systems running in Patiala in the state of Punjab from 1907 to 1927. It is the only operational locomotive – hauled Railway system built using the Ewing system in the world i.e. monorails using a balancing wheel for balancing the train. Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh ji of Patiala got this unique railway system constructed under supervision of Col Bowles to facilitate movement of people and goods in his state. Four locomotives for PSMT were built and delivered by Orenstein & Koppel of Germany (O&K) in 1909 at a cost of $ then 500 to $ 600 (about Rs. 7,000/-) each. National Rail Museum, New Delhi took the initiative to get the PSMT loco and saloon revived and restored. With the help of Amritsar workshop, Rewari Steam Shed staff and NRM staff the loco has been brought back into operational condition. 
Audio Guide at the museum is a system in which the historical significance of these exhibits has been recorded in a story telling formal. This Audio Guide system will overtake the role of a Human Guide. It will enhance the overall experience of visiting and learning about collections of the museum. This will also ease the overcrowding of visitors at a particular place of exhibits as the peak Footfall per day registered is as high as 5500 and average Footfall is 1700-1800 visitors. The system has been designed in both English & Hindi languages and also for the children separately to suit the interest of public of all generations.

The Chandigarh Railway Station is all set to undergo some changes, with the work for installation of escalators being started and tenders being allotted for construction of a food court.
Although there has been talk of installation of escalators for quite some time, the work for upgradation of the station was expedited after Pawan Kumar Bansal assumed the charge of the Railways Ministry.
The escalators, for which work has commenced at platforms 2 and 3, will take passengers from platforms directly towards the two entrances to the station from Chandigarh and Panchkula side. This will reduce the rush at platform 1. At present, the stairs lead all passengers to platform 1.
The trains that used to depart from and arrive at platforms 2...
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and 3 have now been diverted to platforms 4 and 5. This includes the Kalka Shatabdi that arrives at Chandigarh in the morning.
The tenders for the food court have also been allotted and construction is likely to be completed in three to four months. It is coming up adjoining the ticket reservation centre. An official says that once the food court is operational, a variety of cuisine will be available at the station, and the customers will be able to get a view of the kitchen from where they sit. The official adds that this is a step towards providing hygienic food. The food court will have a seating capacity of 40 to 50 people.
There are several other proposals that are approved for the station. One of them pertains to installation of new sheds at the station.
Parking contractor issued warning
The parking contractor at the Railway Station was caught overcharging the railway staff. For parking of two-wheelers, he was charging Rs 10 instead of Rs 8, the normal rate. A fine of Rs 1,200 was imposed and a complaint filed.

For the first time, train drivers will have toilet facility in the engine cabin itself.
“It is a basic need and we have tried to provide toilet facility for loco pilots in the locomotives itself,” Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told PTI today after inspecting the first diesel engine fitted with a toilet and wash basin at the New Delhi station.
Till now, locomotives did not have toilet facility leaving the driver to use toilets at stations depending upon the halt time. Drivers have been demanding such facility in the engines for a long time.
In a retro-fitting exercise, the Railways have provided a toilet and wash basin in a 3300 HP diesel engine as part of a pilot project. The retro-fitting of...
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toilet has been done at the Charbagh workshop in Lucknow.
“Toilet has been provided on a trial basis and we are planning to replicate the exercise in other locomotives used in the long distance travel,” Bansal said.
Such toilet facility is expected to benefit drivers in trains like Rajdhani which have less stoppages.
The Railway Minister also visited the control room and waiting halls at the station and gave instructions to the staff concerned for maintaining cleanliness and hygienic conditions in rail premises.
Source - the hindu business line.

Palakkad division of Southern Railways has proposed Rs 17.63 crore worth projects at Mangalore Central Railway station.
Mohan Menon, Additional Divisional Railway Manager of Palakkad division, said this at a review meeting conducted by Nalin Kumar Kateel, Member of Parliament from Mangalore, here on Thursday.
Giving details about the various works carried out by the Railways in Mangalore, he said the proposed work includes the development of a second entry to Mangalore Central Railway station. However, it is yet to be approved by the headquarters.
When Kateel wanted to know the progress in ‘World Class’ status to Mangalore Central railway station, which was announced in the Railway Budget two years ago, Menon said that the Budget had identified 50 stations in the country...
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for this. Two of them – Mangalore Central and Kozhikode – come under the Palakkad division.
He said that such stations should ensure seamless integration across different modes of transportation, and ‘World Class’ stations should provide value-added passenger facilities.
The division has sent its report to the Southern Railways, covering the master plan the division has for Mangalore. Work on such projects has to be done in a phased manner, he said.
Participating in the meeting, Yogish Bhat, Mangalore MLA, said that the Karnataka Government has given approval to sanction financial assistance for the construction of a road-under-bridge near the Mangalore Junction Railway station, in the place of the existing level crossing.
The project worth Rs 5.16 crore will be taken up on a cost-sharing basis between the State Government and the Railways, he said.
Some members of the railway users’ associations brought various issues relating to railways in Mangalore to the notice of the meeting.
Answering those queries, Menon said that the Palakkad division is ready to host an ‘adalat’ kind of a meeting, if needed, to redress their problems.
Representatives from South Western Railway and Konkan Railway also attended the meeting.
Source - the hindu business line.

Due to commissioning of double line between Tadipatri & Rayalacheruvu section in Gunatkal Division, the following mail/express trains are/will run via diverted route as indicated below :
1. T.No. 16381 Mumbai CST – Kanniyakumari Express leaving Mumbai CST from 27.1.13 to 8.2.13 will be diverted via Gooty, Dharmavaram & Bangalore.
2. T.No. 16382 Kanniyakumari – Mumbai CST Express leaving Kanniyakumari from 27.1.13 to 8.2.13 will be diverted via Bangalore, Dharmavaram & Gooty.
3. T.No. 17651 Chennai Egmore – Kacheguda Express leaving Chennai Egmore from 27.1.13 to 8.2.13 will be diverted via Renigunta, Gudur & Vijayawada.
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4. T.No. 17652 Kacheguda – Chennai Egmore Express leaving Kacheguda from 27.1.13 to 8.2.13 will be diverted via Vijayawada, Gudur, Renigunta.
5. T.No. 16351 Mumbai CST – Nagercoil Balaji Express leaving Mumbai CST o­n 29.1.13, 2.2.13 and 5.2.13 will be diverted via Gooty, Dharmavaram, Pakala, Tirupati & Renigunta.
6. T.No. 16352 Nagercoil – Mumbai CST Balaji Express leaving Nagercoil o­n 31.1.13, 3.2.13 and 7.2.13 will be diverted via Tirupati, Pakala, Dharmavaram & Gooty.

Indian Railways, the prime transport organisation of the country which carries 23 million passengers and 2 million tonnes of freight every day to the nook and corner of this vast sub-continent, will be celebrating the 64th Republic Day by presenting a tableau of Air Conditioned Double Decker during the Republic Day Parade, at Rajpath, New Delhi.
“More coach per coach” (a replica of AC Double Decker Coach) is the theme being presented by the Indian Railways as its tableau for the Republic Day Parade 2013. The technological superiority of the AC double decker coach lends credence to the will of the Indian Railways to serve its passengers in the best manner possible.
Indigenously designed, developed and manufactured Air conditioned double decker train was introduced for the first time between Howrah...
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and Dhanbad. Now, an improved design of such train has been developed and its services between Jaipur and Delhi and Ahemdabad and Mumbai have been introduced. Such services are also planned between Habibganj-Indore and Chennai-Bangalore in near future. AC double decker train with improved passenger friendly design is having capacity of 120 passengers per coach and is becoming popular among passengers.
The two-part tableau of Indian Railways consists of a replica of an electric engine, the WAP 7, a high horse power electric passenger locomotive, placed upon the tractor and a replica of the higher capacity Air Conditioned Double Decker coach upon the trailer. Alongside the AC double decker coach, the amenities available at the platform for the benefit of the railway users like current booking counter, wheel chair for senior citizens, waiting bench, porter, etc., are also shown in the tableau.

The Ministry of Railways has now issued circular giving details of its decision to revise Passenger Fares w.e.f. 22.01.2013. Details of the fare revision are as under:-
S.N.
Class
Increase in Fare per Passenger Kilo Meter (PKM)
Minimum distance for charge
i
Second Class Ordinary (Suburban)
02 paise
No change
(existing – 10 Kms)
ii
...
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Second Class Ordinary (Non-Suburban)
03 paise
No change
(existing – 10 Kms)
iii
Second Class
04 paise
50 kms
iv
Sleeper Class
06 paise
No change
(existing – 200 Kms)
v
AC Chair Car
10 paise
150 kms
vi
AC 3-Tier
10 paise
300 kms
vii
First Class
03 paise
No change
(existing – 100 Kms)
viii
AC 2 - Tier
06 paise
No change
(existing – 300 Kms)
ix
AC First Class
10 paise
No change
(existing – 300 Kms)
2. Minimum Fare: The Minimum fare chargeable will be Rs. 5.
3. Development Charge: On the revised basic fares which shall become effective from 22.01.2013, development charge shall not be leviable.
4. Rounding off of Fares:
(i) Fares of all classes except Second Class Ordinary (Suburban):- Chargeable Fares, as obtained after adding Miscellaneous Charges like Reservation Fee, Supplementary charge for Superfast trains, Catering Charge, Service Tax etc. To the Basic Fare, will be rounded off to the next higher multiple of Rs. 5.
(ii) Second Class (Suburban) Fares:- Chargeable Fares for Second Class Suburban passengers as obtained after adding applicable miscellaneous charges like MUTP Surcharge etc. (as and where application) TO THE Basic Fare, will be rounded off to the next higher multiple of five rupees, except that in cases where either ‘1’ or ‘6’ comes up as the last digit (i.e. in unit’s place) it will be rounded off to the immediately lower multiple of Rs. 5, i.e. Rs. 11.00, Rs. 21.00, Rs. 31.00 etc. would respectively become Rs. 10.00, Rs. 20.00, Rs. 30.00 etc. and Rs. 6.00, Rs. 16.00, Rs. 26.00 etc. would respectively become Rs. 5.00, Rs. 15.00 and Rs. 25.00 etc. and Fare values ending in Rs. 2, Rs. 3 or Rs. 4 would be getting rounded off to Rs. 5 and those ending in Rs. 7, Rs. 8, or Rs. 9 to Rs. 10 and so on and so forth.
5. It is also decided that the existing fares of train services like Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Duronto, Rajya Rani and Yuva Expresses will similarly be revised to the extent of the proposed increase in class-wise fares.
6. As per earlier circular of Railway Board dated 26.12.2012, as a special case to facilitate the passengers of Muhakumbh Mela it has been decided if any passenger purchases an unreserved reverse ticket through UTS from any station on Indian Railways for journey to any one of the 12 stations in Allabhbad region serving Mahakumbh Mela and back the reverse ticket will be allowed to be booked upto 15 days in advance excluding the day of journey subject to levy of Mela Surcharge as per extant instructions. In this case also the difference of fare will be collected on board in the trains in case tickets are booked in advance and before 22.01.2013 in respect of above.
7. Other Charges:- There is no change in charges for reservation fee etc. Such charges, wherever applicable, which shall continue to be levied additionally. However, the second class superfast Surcharge shall be rounded off to Rs. 10/-.
8. The changes in fares as above shall come into force w.e.f. 22.01.2013.
9. Service tax will be levied as applicable as per instructions issued in this regard.
10. Instructions issued earlier that in the case of Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Jan Shatabdi/Duronto Express trains, the concession wherever admissible and in child fare also, it will be granted only in the basic fares and that all other charges (Catering, Reservation Supplementary charges like Superfast Surcharge, Enhanced Charges, Service Tax (if any) etc.) shall be collected in full. This will be applicable from 01.04.2013
11. The revised fares will also apply to tickets issued in advance for journeys to commence on or after 22.01.2013. Until new tickets are printed, old printed card tickets will be issued after having necessary corrections in fares made on them in advance. Such alterations by the staff would be made preferably by stamp or in ink.
12. In the case of tickets already issued at pre-revised rates, it should be ensured that the difference in fares and other charges on or after 22.01.2013 will be recovered either by TTEs on the trains or by the Booking/Reservation Offices before the commencement of journey by passengers.
The detailed revised passenger fare table effective from 22.1.2013 is available on the Ministry of Railways website i.e. www.indianrailways.gov.in.
Source - PIB

Railway Board rolls back circular on 'Tatkal' ticket holders
The Railway Board has rolled back a circular under which 'Tatkal' ticket holders were given priority while clearing waiting lists over normal reservation ticket holders.
The circular was taken back by the Railway Board after a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed at the Madhya Pradesh High Court's principal bench at Jabalpur on the issue, after which the court directed the railways on December 12, 2012, to appoint a competent official where the petitioner could file his complaint in this regard.
However, the railways moved a review petition yesterday to inform the high court that it has withdrawn the circularunder which 'Tatkal' ticket holders were given priority in clearing waiting lists, over those with...
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normal reservation.
The PIL was filed by a journalist Sanjeev Pandey, who termed the circular as against the interest of large numbers of normal reservation ticket holders who book their tickets three to four months in advance to get confirmed tickets.
The Railway Board's decision is expected to benefit a large number of railway passengers, especially those who cannot spend enough money to book a 'Tatkal' ticket.
The journalist alleged that the circular clearly indicated that the railway had deviated from its role of a public welfare institution to a purely commercial one catering to the needs of only the rich.
If such practices are allowed to continue, common people would be deprived of their chance to get tickets on the waiting list confirmed, he said.
The Railway Board, in its circular issued on May 15, 2012, said that clearance of waiting list tickets of a general passenger would be done only after clearing the 'Tatkal' waiting list, as part of its efforts to earn more Source - samay live

Union Railways minister on Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday announced the fare hike and said there will not be any hike at the time of Union Budget. The minister also said Railways department has increased the fare to maintain safety and cleanliness. "Railways will hike passenger fares 
from January 21," says Bansal
Highlights of fare hike:
- Second class ordinary suburban fares up by 2 paise per km
- Second class ordinary non-suburban fares up by 2 paise per km
- Second class mail express - 4paise/km
- Sleeper class - 6 paise
...
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- AC chair car - 10 paise per km
- AC 3 tier - 10 paise
- AC 2 tier - 15 paise increased earlier + 6 paise now
- AC first class - 10 paise earlier + 3 paise
- AC first class executive - 30 paise per km increased earlier + 10 paise per km now #ht
# Fare hike effective from midnight of 21st January, 2013
The govt has reportedly hiked Rail fares to generate revenue to fund railways' two ambitious projects - high speed bullet trains and dedicated freight corridor.
Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia was said to have told railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday that the money required to build the freight corridor would be around Rs. 1 lakh crore - almost four-time higher than the ministry initial estimate of Rs. 27,000 crore.
Railways do not have internal resources to fund a project of such a magnitude. The government is not in a financial position to provide so much of money as finance minister P Chidambaram has already announced that allocations for different ministries would not be jacked substantially.
So, the plan panel, which allocated money to different ministries based on finance ministry's consent, wanted railways to raise its own resources to fund the mega-project now delayed for years.
And, the panel wanted ministry to start preparations for increasing its financial kitty.
The way-out, according to the panel, was hike in rail fares across categories keeping in view the rising energy costs and ground realities.
The panel officials say top officials of the railway ministry agree with their view and upward revision of rail fare can be expected soon.
The panel believed that the fare increase would also help to fund the high cost bullet trains, which the ministry wants to introduce in public private partnership mode by 2015.
Seven corridors have been selected for conducting feasibility studies including Delhi-Mumbai rail-link.

Low-cost Yuva trains likely to introduce AC-3 tier coaches
The economical Yuva train service is likely to introduce additional AC-3 class coaches to augment its earnings since its present seating arrangement has got poor results for cash-strapped Railways.
The Railways has been running two Yuva Express trains with AC chair car facilities for the past three years connecting the national capital with Kolkata and Mumbai.
"Though the two AC trains are running on two important routes which have heavy demand throughout the year, the earnings are not up to the mark," said a senior Railway Ministry official.
About 10,500 passenger trains run daily and the loss in the passenger earnings has gone up to...
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Rs 25,000 crore in the current fiscal and Railways is trying to reduce the loss margin by initiating several measures including curbing on its expenditure.
The Railway official said the idea to add AC-3 tier coaches came since passengers prefer sleeper berth facility in overnight journeys and Yuva trains currently provide only seating arrangements.
"We are planning to add AC-3 tier in both trains to accommodate more passengers as the Delhi-Mumbai and Delhi-Kolkata routes are always high on demand," the official said.
Targeting youth and low-income group in the age group of 18 to 45 years, the then Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had announced low-cost Yuva trains with AC chair car facilities to counter her predecessor Lalu Prasad's Garib Rath Express.
Initially 60 per cent of the total seats were reserved for youths and passengers of the low-income group, while the remaining were meant for general passengers.
However, the occupancy rate in youth quota seats was found to be less than 15 per cent and Railways was forced to reduce the youth quota to 20 per cent in September 2011.
The fare of the Yuva Express with AC chair car facilities in 10 coaches ranges from Rs 80 for the first 100 km, Rs 299 for up to 1,500 km and a maximum of Rs 399 up to 2,500 km for the unemployed and low-income group youth.
Yuva trains are being run on important routes with carefully chosen stoppages to ensure good ridership and Railways wants to utilise the full potential of the service, the official said. Source - business-standard