- Now, customers will have to pay more due to privatization
Chronicle Reporter, Bhopal
Railways have privatized the parcel system. Now, the Government of India will also get the same fare for the train by which the parcel will travel, but the customer will have to pay more fare, because the contractor doing the booking will also take his commission. Railways have given one or two coaches of each train on contract in 35 trains.
Railway administration has now announced that contractors will do parcel booking in trains passing through Bhopal. The contractor has issued his rate card. Small motorcycles, which used to book parcels in the 100 kg weight category, can now be booked in the 300 kg weight category i.e. for about Rs 300. According to officials, sending parcels by train from Bhopal to Howrah and New Delhi is expensive. Especially in those trains in which one to two coaches have been given on lease, the private lease contractor is spending more money in sending the goods through parcels as compared to the Railways. At the same time, one or two coaches of trains traveling to some places are going to be given on lease soon. Their rates are also likely to be higher than that of Railways.
= Raipur and Bilaspur parcel rates reduced – According to officials, the railway administration has reduced the parcel rates from Bhopal to Raipur and Bilaspur, although parcel bookings on this route are very less. Keeping this in view, the contractor has cleverly reduced the rates of that route, where customers were already not coming. It is noteworthy that on an average 1500 to 1800 parcel packets are sent to Bhopal every day, while about 2000 packets come to Bhopal from different cities of India.
Contract for parcel coach of 35 trains done
According to railway sources, recently 1-2 coaches of more than 35 trains running and commuting from the West-Central Railway zone have been given on lease. Train coaches are going to be given on lease for some places till next July also. There is a possibility of increase in the rates of the places for which coaches are going to be given on lease. It is said that the parcel rates have been changed in such a way that most of the customers will not know and in any case no group of angry customers will be formed.
= Railways have fixed the responsibility of delivering people’s goods safely through parcels to the contractor. For this, the lease contractor has additionally added charges for packing etc. With this, the goods will reach safely.
– Naval Agarwal,
PRO, WCR Bhopal.
This fare will be charged up to 100 kg
Station railway Rate Contractor rate
Bhopal to Hyderabad 441 550
Bhopal to Chennai 632 725
Bhopal to Mumbai 380 530
Bhopal to Howrah 617 805
Bhopal to Delhi 325 380
(rate approx)
