No decision yet to hike train fares: Rabiul

Road Transport and Bridges, Railways and Shipping Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam said on Wednesday that no decision had yet been taken to increase train fares following the recent rise in fuel prices. 
“There is considerable pressure from the railways ministry to raise fares; otherwise, losses will increase. However, we have not decided to raise rail fares. I have instructed officials to maintain the existing fares without increasing them,” he said while briefing reporters after a bilateral meeting at the Secretariat, responding to a question on the recent hike in launch fares.
He said launch owners had sought a 15% fare increase, citing higher fuel prices and operating costs, but the government approved a rise of 7.54%, keeping passengers’ interests in mind. The minimum launch fare was raised from Tk32 to Tk35.
Launch owners had earlier sought a steeper increase of 51%-60% per passenger per km, proposing the fare for the first 100km rise from Tk2.95 to Tk4.45, and the rate for each subsequent km from Tk2.52 to Tk4.02.

“Fare increases are undesirable. But given the global situation, there was no alternative to raising fuel prices,” the minister said, adding that the government had tried to keep the increase as low as possible and would not allow anyone to exploit the hike.
Asked about CNG-run vehicles, he said there was no scope to raise their fares, as CNG prices had not increased. “Necessary action will be taken if any instance of charging higher fares is reported,” he said.
The Road Transport and Highways Division issued a notification earlier on Wednesday revising bus and minibus fares by 17 paisa/km, citing rising fuel and operating costs. The fare for buses in Dhaka and Chattogram city areas rose from Tk2.53 to Tk2.70/km, while inter-district and long-distance fares increased from Tk2.23 to Tk2.40/km.