The railways might hike their passenger fares to around seven in order to be effective in the next fiscal year, as per the statements of financial projections in the Rail Budget, now merged with the General Budget to be presented on Wednesday.
The announcement of an increase of fares is not likely to feature in the Budget speech. The Railways will probably increase fares of its highly subsidised passenger segment, especially the non-AC classes in 2017-18. The figures to be revealed in the budget documents Wednesday has taken the likely fare hike into account, sources confirm. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is likely to stress the need for better internal generation, officials said
