Railways Fare Hike: The Railways has raised the cost of train travel a bit. Passenger fares have gone up by a few paise per kilometer across various categories, which will affect long-distance trips. These new fares will kick in starting December 26, 2025. Short-distance travelers and those in non-AC classes will feel the least impact from this increase. For instance, if you’re traveling 500 kilometers in a non-AC coach, you’ll only pay an extra 10 rupees compared to before. However, for those traveling long distances in ordinary and AC classes, the rates have been adjusted on a per-kilometer basis.
How much will the fare go up?
The Railways states that there will be no changes for trips up to 215 km. This means short-distance passengers won’t be affected by the fare increase. For trips longer than 215 km, ordinary class ticket prices will rise by 1 paisa per km. Non-AC fares in Mail/Express trains will see a hike of 2 paisa per km, and AC fares will also increase by 2 paisa per km. So, for a non-AC journey of 500 km, passengers will only need to pay an additional 10 rupees overall.
Fare from Delhi to Mumbai, Patna, Lucknow
The Railways has upped the fare by 2 paise per kilometer for both Mail/Express non-AC and AC classes. This means that passengers on long-distance trips will now have to shell out a bit more depending on how far they’re going. But how much extra will this actually cost you? Let’s break it down with examples from three major routes.
Delhi-Lucknow route: Distance is about 512 km
Fare increase: 512 × Rs 0.02 = Rs 10.24
So, that’s roughly Rs 10 more for non-AC/AC mail-express.
Delhi-Patna route: Distance is around 1,200 km
Fare increase: 1,200 × Rs 0.02 = Rs 24
This means you’ll only pay an extra Rs 20 for a 1,200 km journey.
Delhi-Mumbai route: Distance is about 1,400 km
Fare increase: 1,400 × Rs 0.02 = Rs 28
So, that’s around Rs 28 more on one of the longest and busiest routes in the country.