Indian Railways has rationalised its passenger fare structure with effect from December 26, aiming to strike a balance between passenger affordability and the long-term sustainability of operations.
Railway Board Executive Director (Information and Publicity) Dilip Kumar said the revised fares will come into force from midnight of December 25. He clarified that there will be no change in suburban train fares or season ticket rates, and passenger train fares for journeys up to 215 km will also remain unchanged.
Under the revised structure, fares for suburban services and season tickets on both suburban and non-suburban routes remain untouched.For Ordinary Non-AC (Non-Suburban) services, fares have been revised in a graded manner across Second Class Ordinary, Sleeper Class Ordinary and First Class Ordinary.
In Second Class Ordinary, there is no increase for journeys up to 215 km. For distances between 216 km and 750 km, fares rise by ₹5. The increase is ₹10 for 751–1,250 km, ₹15 for 1,251–1,750 km, and ₹20 for 1,751–2,250 km.In Sleeper Class Ordinary and First Class Ordinary, fares have been uniformly revised at the rate of 1 paise per kilometre for non-suburban journeys.
For Mail and Express trains, fares across both Non-AC and AC classes have been increased by 2 paise per kilometre. This applies to Sleeper Class, First Class, AC Chair Car, AC 3-Tier, AC 2-Tier and AC First Class. For example, a 500 km non-AC Mail/Express journey will cost about ₹10 more.The basic fares of major train services—including Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Tejas, Humsafar, Amrit Bharat, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Antyodaya, Gatimaan, Yuva Express, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail and other Ordinary non-suburban services—have been revised uniformly in line with the approved class-wise fare increases.
There is no change in reservation charges, superfast surcharges or other ancillary fees. GST applicability also remains unchanged, and fares will continue to be rounded off as per existing norms.The revised fares will apply only to tickets booked on or after December 26, 2025. Tickets booked before this date will not attract any additional charges, even if the journey takes place later. Fare charts displayed at stations will also be updated accordingly.