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.
Legendary playback singer Manna Dey, who mesmerised generations of listeners with his inimitable voice for over five decades with hits like 'ay mere pyara watan', 'laaga chunri me daag' and 'poocho na kaise', died at a hospital here today at the age of 94 after prolonged illness. Dey, who was in and out of Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in the last five months for respiratory and renal problems, died of cardiac arrest with his daughter Shumita Deb and son-in-law Jnanranjan Deb by his bedside when the end came at 3.50 AM. The condition of Dey, who had made Bangalore his home for the last many years, deteriorated since yesterday afternoon, hospital spokesman Vasuki said. With the demise of Dey, the void has become complete in the famous quartet of singers Rafi, Mukesh, and Kishore Kumar, who dominated the Hindi music industry from 1950s to 1970s. The mortal remains of Dey, whose unique voice lent a rare dimension to his persona, were cremate...
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