Following in the footsteps of the Indian airports, the Indian Railways is soon going to levy charges for using the railway platforms. According to sources, the Modi Cabinet is likely to give its nod to the User Development Fee (UDF) in Railways next month. UDF would be the charges for using the railway platforms and that would be used for the development of the railway platforms. The charges would range Rs 10 to Rs 35 and will be different for AC and Sleeper commuters, according to the sources.
The Indian Railways is working on PPP model to modernise and make the country’s major stations have world-class facilities. The Railways will invite private players for Request for quotation (RFQ) on November 6. The UDF will then be charged only at stations managed by private players.
Under the station re-development project, several stations will be assigned to the private player, where it will re-develop the station with all modern amenities. Passengers travelling from these stations will be charged the user development fees.
Several stations like New Delhi, Mumbai CST, Jaipur, Nagpur, Ahmadabad, Habibganj, Chennai, Amritsar are included in the list.
According to sources, the UDF is likely to be applicable in different categories from AC 1 to Sleeper classes:
Rs 35-40 for AC 1
Rs 30 for AC 2
Rs 25 – 30 for AC 3
Rs 10 Sleeper for Rs. 10
Source: dnaindia.com