Indian Railways has officially announced a hike in passenger fares effective from December 26, 2025. While providing major relief to daily commuters by keeping Local train and Monthly Season Ticket (MST) rates unchanged, the national carrier has rationalized fares for long-distance travel.
For journeys under 215 km in Ordinary Class, there will be no fare increase.
However, for travel exceeding 215 km in Ordinary Class, a hike of 1 paise per km will be applied. For Mail and Express trains, fares in both AC and Non-AC classes will increase by 2 paise per km. Passengers traveling over 500 km in Non-AC coaches will have to pay an additional ₹10. Indian Railways justified the hike by citing the immense expansion of the network and rising expenditure on staff salaries (₹1.15 lakh crore) and pensions (₹60,000 crore). This adjustment is expected to generate an additional revenue of ₹600 crore for the fiscal year 2024-25.