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.
Correlating the ups and down in the Indian rupee with the stock market, Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, bsplindia.com, suggests that if the rupee continues with its downward fall, the Indian stock market may fall breach October lows and fall further. “If the rupee falls below the 53.0-53.50 mark vis-a-vis the USD, expect a mini meltdown atleast in the equity markets. In that case, the 2250 level (on Nifty) will be breached easily to form a new low. The possibility of that low being below the 2000 levels on the Nifty spot is fairly high,” he says. Bhambwani supports his outlook by comparing the value of rupee at the time of October lows. “The October 2008 lows were made with the INR at 51.20 - 51.40 band. The rupee has breached the 52 level since then. Clearly the nation’s ‘share price’ (currency) indicates weakness. The curency market is a far more accurate barometer of the nation’s health compared to the equity indices. Whether you like it or not, we are under siege. Had it not been March (NAV ...
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