Long-distance train travel is likely to cost more for passengers boarding or alighting at redeveloped stations as the Railways is planning to levy a station development fee ranging from `10 to `50 depending on the class of travel. Senior railway officials said the fee is likely to be added to the train tickets during booking. The fee will be levied only after such stations become operational.
The user fee would be in three categories. `50 for all AC classes, `25 for sleeper class and `10 for the unreserved class. No station development fee will be charged for suburban train journeys, according to a circular issued by the Railway Board. It stated that platform tickets at these stations will also be costlier by `10."Station Development Fee (SDF) shall be collected from the passengers (boarding as well as alighting at such stations). Class-wise SDF for developed/redeveloped stations shall be charged as under: For alighting passengers at such stations, the SDF shall be 50 per cent of the rates indicated above. If both boarding/alighting such stations, in that case, SDF shall be 1.5 times of the applicable rate," the circular stated.
