Indian Railways Announces Fare Hike, Effective December 26

Indian Railways will implement revised fares starting December 26, 2025, with no increase for local trains, monthly season tickets, or ordinary class journeys up to 215 km.

The increase is as mentioned below,

• 1 paisa per km increase in ordinary class for distances beyond 215 km

• 2 paisa per km increase in Mail/Express non-AC fares

• 2 paisa per km increase in AC class fares

• Rs. 10 extra for a 500 km non-AC journey

Railways has said it has expanded its network and operations significantly over the past decade, and it is increasing its manpower. The latest fare hike will hike the Railways' earnings by Rs 600 crore annually, NDTV reported.

Earlier in June, Union Minister of State for Railways V Somanna said train fares will be raised in stages without affecting the commuters.

Following which, the railway ministry issued an official circular increasing the fares of the non-air-conditioned class in mail and express trains by 1 paisa and all air-conditioned classes by 2 paise per kilometre from July 1.

The ordinary second-class fare was not increased for up to 500 km and for distances beyond that, an increase in the ticket prices by half a paisa per km was implemented.

Prior to that, train fare hike was implemented on January 1, 2020. At that time, second-class fares for ordinary trains and mail/express services were raised by 1 paisa per km and 2 paise per km, respectively. Sleeper class and all AC classes saw an increase of 2 paise per km and 4 paise per km, respectively, NDTV reported.