Railways to introduce tourist tickets for Mumbai suburban trains

New Delhi, Apr 20 (UNI) Come May 1, travelling in Mumbai suburban trains, the lifeline of the western megapolis, is going to be a lot easier with the Railways all set to introduce 'tourist tickets' as a pilot project.

The scheme was proposed by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in the Railway Budget for 2007-08.

Tourist tickets will be issued for both first and second class and the fare structure will vary according to their duration.

Accordingly, the fare of a second class tourist ticket will be Rs 50 for one day, Rs 90 for three days and Rs 105 for five days.

Those travelling in First class will have to shell out Rs 170 for one day, Rs 330 for three days and Rs 390 for five days.

The basic fare of children tickets will be half the basic fares, rounded off to the next higher multiple of Rs 5. Other charges, like surcharge, development charge and multiple unit travel points (MUTPs), will be levied in full.

During the period of validity of these tickets, passengers can travel any number of times from any station to any station on the suburban sections of the Central and Western Railways.

Tickets will be valid upto midnight of their date of validity and can be issued maximum three days in advance, excluding the first day of validity. No concession will be granted to any one on these tickets.

A ministry official said no refund would be allowed on unused and partially used tickets under any circumstance.

''However, tourist tickets booked in advance can be cancelled after deducting usual clerkage charges which, at present, is Rs 10 for second class and Rs 20 for first class,'' the official said, adding, that such cancellation would be permitted only before the first day of validity.

Besides, the period of validity of these tickets can not be increased under any circumstance.

UNI