The train fares are going to increase from May 4 as the Bangladesh Railway has decided to withdraw the existing concessions on passengers journeying more than 100 km.
A railway circular published on Monday stated that in 1992, distance-wise and section-wise concessions were added by Bangladesh Railways. In 2012, the sectional concession was abolished, but the distance-based concessions remained in effect.
Recently, it has been decided to withdraw the existing distance based concession only, without increasing passenger train fares.
Commenting on the matter, Director General of Bangladesh Railway Sardar Shahadat Ali said, “The train fare will be adjusted as the decision has been made to withdraw the concession from May 4.”
When asked how much the train fares are going to up in the coming days, he said, “This will be determined by the railway commercial wing.”
The railway concession system gives 20 per cent discount on train fares for the next 150 km after 100 km, which means 20 per cent discount is currently available from 101 to 250 km, 25 per cent discount is from 251 to 400 km and 30 per cent from 401 to 400 km.
This facility is being withdrawn from May 4. This will increase the minimum fare by 10 per cent. However, the fare will remain unchanged for train journeys covering less than 100 km.