Railways cuts base ticket fare for MEMU, express trains to pre-Covid level of Rs10

New Delhi: In a relief to local train commuters, Railways has brought down minimum ticket fare for Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) & Express trains (old passenger) to Rs 10 from Rs 30, back to pre-Covid levels. The fare of travel in all local passenger trains is likely to be 40-50% less.TOI has learnt that Pune division was the first to bring down minimum fare last week. "We had taken up the matter with railways since the hike in fare introduced post-Covid was affecting a large number of commuters. In our zone, Punebrought down the fare and then Solapur division also brought down the fare," said Shivnath Biyani, member of Central Railway Passenger Advisory Committee.Railway ministry sources claimed that the number of local passenger trains that were designated as "Express trains" were only a few dozen. Now all the divisions will revert to the earlier prices. The Consumer Protection Council in Tamil Nadu, terming it unethical, condemned railways for continuing to collect higher fare from passengers by converting passenger train fares into special express.