LOW-COST fliers switch TO FAST TRAINS

Compared To 2007, Passengers Taking Rajdhani, Shatabdi In Last 5 months Has Crossed 50%

V Ayyappan | TNN 

Sept 26, 2008

    As the cost of air travel soars higher and away from the reach of the middle class, railways are minting money, especially through their inter-metro Rajdhani and Shatabdi express trains. The number of passengers, who travelled from Chennai to Bangalore, Vijayawada and Delhi on these trains, has drastically increased since April, when compared to that of previous years. 
According to official statistics, the number of passengers who travelled in the last five months alone has already crossed more than 50% of the total passengers the trains carried last year. 
    Southern Railway operates a Rajdhani train to Nizamuddin and Shatabdi trains to Mysore, Bangalore and Vijayawada. Between April 2007 and March 2008, 61,954 passengers took the Chennai Central-Nizamuddin Rajdhani express, earning railways a sum of Rs 10.10 crore. In the last five months especially, the response has been tremendous. As many as 34,882 passengers took the Rajdhani, which is more than half of last year’s annual figure. Between April and August 2008, the railways earned Rs 5.41 crore through the Rajdhani train. 
    The figures for Shatadbdi trains are not far behind. The Chennai-Mysore train is the most popular one followed by the train to Vijayawada. Last year, 1.42 lakh passengers used the train and railways raked in Rs 7.53 crore. The number of passengers and, along with it, the earnings has increased every month since April 2008. The railways has raked in Rs 3.43 crore between April and August through the Shatabdi trains. 
    A much quicker journey and better onboard amenities when compared to regular trains is the reason for the popularity of the Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains. “The Vijayawada train is popular because air connectivity is not good from Chennai to the Andhra town. Hence, the business community here that has to meet clients in Andhra Pradesh prefers to take the Jan Shatabdi express to Vijayawada,” 
    However, there is a minor slump in the number of passengers, who travelled in June when compared to May, which is the summer vacation season. 
    A senior railway official said the popularity of the faster trains was on the rise because of the good onboard service for passengers. Besides, facilities like internet and electronic ticketing, automatic up gradation of reserved tickets, distribution of quotas and reduced travel are other factors that attract erstwhile low-cost flyers to such trains.
    “Air passengers shifting their allegiance may be one of the factors for the increasing patronage extended to these high class trains,” said southern railway chief commercial manager for passenger marketing. 
APEX FARES MAKE A COMEBACK 
Chennai: Apex fares and special rates are making a comeback in the civil aviation sector. After rationalising the routes and introducing smaller aircraft, airlines are offering these fares to lure back those who had chosen other modes of transport. Though not as low or “special” as in the pre-lowcost carrier days, the full services airlines look at such fares as a measure to ensure profitability that seems to be the latest watchword for the battered industy. 
    Jet Airways, Spice Jet and Jetlite introduced 21 days to 14 days apex fares this month while Air India reintroduced them a little earlier. Air India also has schemes like Desh Videsh Desh. 
    “The full service airlines are facing a dip in the number of passengers. The only way to lure them back is by offering attractive fares. But many do not want to kick up a fare war though the seats are going empty. Hence, the idea is to attract the passengers who plan early for travel,” said an Air India official. 
    “We look at limited-seat check fares and advance fares as the best option to ensure profitability,” said an official of Jet Airways. 
    Different methods are adopted to get passengers onboard. Paramount Airlines believes in generating passenger loyality by offering the best service. “We plan to introduce gold cards for frequent fliers. This is one of the ways of doing business the smart way,” said Paramount Airways managing director M Thiagarajan. 
    Nevetheless the fares are not attractive as they used to be in the pre-lowcost airline days. When airlines offered cheaper fares that kicked off a price war in the Delhi-Mumbai sector, the Federation of Indian Airlines decided not to go ahead with such tactics.