Recommendations on re-branding classes of service:
The Railways does an outstanding job in addressing demand-supply elasticity to a certain degree, by having different categories of trains with travel on Passenger Trains being the cheapest and with higher pricing for other services such as Mail, Super Fast, Express, Rajdhani etc. Along with different categories of service within these trains such as General or Unreserved, Reserved Seating, Sleeper, AC Chair, AC-3 Tier, AC-2 Tier, First Class etc. multiple price points are offered. But the offerings are skewed towards the lower price categories with the demand for AC services far exceeding supply.
Indira Gandhi did away with III Class saying it portrayed a bad image. The ensuing Make Over resulted in the existing categories. It is suggested that we revisit the current categories and consider the following:
General: This is the subsidized category that is unreserved seating.
Economy Chair: This would be comparable to an ordinary bus with reserved seating. Each train that has a General Category should have this category as well.
Economy Sleeper: This would be the existing Sleeper Class and with the intent to increase the number of passengers a train can carry, it is suggested that a few of these Sleeper Class bogies be replaced with Economy seating.
AC Chair: This would be comparable to the AC Volvo and priced competitively to AC Bus transportation. New trains with this class of service should be introduced for the Middle Class.
AC 2 Tier and 3 Tier: This would remain the same.
Premium Class: Suggest First Class be renamed to Premium Class.
Luxury Class: This would be the Palace on Wheels.
Super Saver: The Garib Rath is a misnomer and an insult to the people travelling on it. Most of the AC Tier 3 are Middle Class people. Convert the whole train to AC Chair and use the AC 3 Tier bogies to new trains at a better price. more
The Railways does an outstanding job in addressing demand-supply elasticity to a certain degree, by having different categories of trains with travel on Passenger Trains being the cheapest and with higher pricing for other services such as Mail, Super Fast, Express, Rajdhani etc. Along with different categories of service within these trains such as General or Unreserved, Reserved Seating, Sleeper, AC Chair, AC-3 Tier, AC-2 Tier, First Class etc. multiple price points are offered. But the offerings are skewed towards the lower price categories with the demand for AC services far exceeding supply.
Indira Gandhi did away with III Class saying it portrayed a bad image. The ensuing Make Over resulted in the existing categories. It is suggested that we revisit the current categories and consider the following:
General: This is the subsidized category that is unreserved seating.
Economy Chair: This would be comparable to an ordinary bus with reserved seating. Each train that has a General Category should have this category as well.
Economy Sleeper: This would be the existing Sleeper Class and with the intent to increase the number of passengers a train can carry, it is suggested that a few of these Sleeper Class bogies be replaced with Economy seating.
AC Chair: This would be comparable to the AC Volvo and priced competitively to AC Bus transportation. New trains with this class of service should be introduced for the Middle Class.
AC 2 Tier and 3 Tier: This would remain the same.
Premium Class: Suggest First Class be renamed to Premium Class.
Luxury Class: This would be the Palace on Wheels.
Super Saver: The Garib Rath is a misnomer and an insult to the people travelling on it. Most of the AC Tier 3 are Middle Class people. Convert the whole train to AC Chair and use the AC 3 Tier bogies to new trains at a better price. more
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..................................... Rajendra would like to stay in touch on LinkedIn. Rajendra Sonawane Infrastructure Solution Architect @ Wipro Technologies Ltd. Mumbai Area, India View profile https://www.linkedin.com/comm/in/rajendra-sonawane-89925946?trk=eml-guest-invite-pprofile-link-cta&trkEmail=eml-invite_guest-null-418-null-null-%7Eyjy9mh%7Ejei82xtd%7Ese-null-neptune%2Fprofile%7Evanity%2Eview&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Aemail_invite_guest%3B%2FW%2FhDJDJQOG4CHWj9uVwew%3D%3D Confirm that you know Rajendra https://www.linkedin.com/comm/start/accept-invitation?sharedKey=oVBw7naD&invitationId=6354823834947907585&trk=eml-guest-invite-cta&trkEmail=eml-invite_guest-null-416-null-null-%7Eyjy9mh%7Ejei82xtd%7Ese-ssuw-start%7Esignup%7Ewarm&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Aemail_invite_guest%3B%2FW%2FhDJDJQOG4CHWj9uVwew%3D%3D ..................................... Unsubscribe: https://www.linkedin.com/e/v2?e=-yjy9mh-jei82xtd-se&t=lun&midToken=AQFmrFVhGEd36Q&ek=invite_guest&li=426&m=unsub&ts=unsub&loid=AQFlpJw-eWwPXAAAAWIEoFNt_O260Mfy2MFOlqYMua4tI03np3O71HJYd5HslOJbbX0Cpy8VYYgTxD93Wfs_7ukGnJl_XIEm0lZOgcvZGnRCsnDhTMNKouEB29AeXqnlixh36yNOcgbmXrsmHzmcFLMsojt1yZfvu6TW&eid=-yjy9mh-jei82xtd-se Help: https://www.linkedin.com/e/v2?e=-yjy9mh-jei82xtd-se&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Aemail_invite_guest%3B%2FW%2FhDJDJQOG4CHWj9uVwew%3D%3D&a=customerServiceUrl&ek=invite_guest&li=425&m=footer&ts=help&articleId=67 You are receiving Invitation emails. LinkedIn will use your email address to make suggestions to our members in features like People You May Know. This email was sent to www.send_newpost++iylklkqsvvbbtr++vvtrgxiytrqs@localcirclesmail.com. © 2018 LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company, Wilton Plaza, Wilton Place, Dublin 2. LinkedIn is a registered business name of LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company. LinkedIn and the LinkedIn logo are registered trademarks of LinkedIn. more
Mar 08
I think it was Madhu Dandvate in Morarji Cabinet who rightly did away with 3rd class and not Indira Gandhi. more
Jan 14
I agree with the renaming of Garib Rath and converting it to an only chair car train, but I would like you to seat on one of the chairs for 2 hours and than suggest, it is so bad, just to accommodate 3 in a row X 2 i.e. 6 seats in a row the seat has been reduced to maximum 16 inches width, and it does not recline. The Garib raths ply for as long distance trains, it is like making one seat in an erect position for nearly 12 hours. That is why it is called Garib Rath. The Berth too have shorter clearance between two levels and is very difficult to get it leave alone sleeping on it. The ventilation is very poor, even though the coaches are supposed to be Air-conditioned. An apt example of Garibi. more
Jan 10
Managing a big organization like Railways is a very difficult job . Let the equity based demand supply equilibrium be worked out with reference to financial health of the system. more
Jan 09
