According to the officials, passengers who have booked tickets online and over the counter will be given a refund of the extra amount for the pre-booked tickets.
The tariff for AC 3 tier economy class travel, which had been discontinued in November of last year when it was combined with AC 3-tier, has been reinstated, according to a Railway order that was issued on Wednesday.
Notwithstanding the price increase, the order said that Railway would still provide Linen to travellers.
An earlier circular that had set the price of an AC 3-tier economy class ticket at the same level as an AC 3-tier ticket has been removed by the current directive. The cost of linen, which was initially not offered in the economy air-conditioned class, was cited as the reason for the merger.
The railways promoted the 3E class of travel as the “best and cheapest AC travel service” in the world when they stated that rates in these newly introduced coaches would be 6-8% less than those in regular AC 3 coaches in sept 2021.
Prior to the November 2022 directive, travellers could reserve AC 3 economy seats in some trains where railroads offered such seats under a separate category known as “3E”.
According to officials, there are currently 463 AC 3 economical coaches as opposed to 11,277 regular AC 3 coaches.
AC 3 economy coaches offers superior passenger amenities then standard AC 3 coaches.
travellers were required to pay an additional Rs 60-70 as a result of the merger of the AC 3-tier economy
In its first year of operation the AC 3-tier economy class brought in Rs 231 crore for the railways.
15 lakh passengers travelled in these coaches between April and August of 2022, collecting revenue of Rs 177 crore.
