Encouraged by the success of the recently
introduced premier AC superfast special train to Mumbai with dynamic
fares, Railways today said such service could be introduced in 17 other
busy routes. "We have identified 17 sectors where we could introduce
such special service.... These are the routes where there is a constant
demand with high waiting list," Railway Board Chairman Arundendra Kumar
said. While he refrained from giving further details, sources said some
of these routes could be the Delhi-Bangalore, Delhi-Kochi,
Delhi-Howrah, Mumbai-Ahmedabad, Howrah-Chennai and Chennai-Coimbatore.
While the premier superfast to Mumbai -- having Rajdhani like facility
including catering-- is a complete AC train, Kumar however, said in some
of the other sectors, the rake composition could be a mix of AC and non
AC coaches. The premier superfast was introduced on December 24
between New Delhi and Mumbai where fares came at a premium as the
dynamic fare mechanism was introduced in the passenger service for the
first time. Railways has made windfall gains with the introduction of
the train, which saw up to a 30 per cent jump in fares in AC-2 and 35
per cent in AC-3. An AC-2 tier fare fetched Rs 3232 per ticket, an
increase of Rs 737 from the base price of Rs 2495. Similarly the AC-3
ticket was Rs 2442, a rise of Rs 627 from the base price of Rs 1815.
The success of the service prompted railways to extend the running days
of the train by another three trips. Dynamic fares have been introduced
for the first time by Railways to shore up its finances from passenger
segment and woo more and more passengers from airlines by providing
better facilities and services. Railways has vouched for punctuality of
the special train which has no stoppages in the route.
With the stage set for International Yoga Day this Sunday, yoga asanas were performed mid-air at 35,000 feet above the sea-level, arguably the first time ever! The asanas called Upayoga or useful yoga were performed as a trial-run aboard the Delhi-Guwahati and Guwahati-Delhi flights of budget airline SpiceJet with over 180 passengers and crew. The Gurgaon-based carrier has teamed up with Isha Foundation of Sadhguru to conduct mid-air yoga sessions on its select Boeing flights on Sunday, which is being observed as International Yoga Day. Talking about the yogic postures demonstrated, Gita, a teacher with the Isha Foundation said the session was designed to reduce stress for passengers who travel long hours. "These are safe, simple postures which can be done by anyone, and can be practiced anytime and anywhere. They help in relieving stress accumulated in the upper neck and spine region," Gita told PTI. The passengers on board, who had no clue about the onboard yoga demonstr...
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