Railways to hike train fares from July 1: Check new slabs, Tatkal booking changes and more

TRAIN fares for second-class passengers on long-distance trains will be hiked from July 1, 2025, Indian Railways notified in a statement on Monday.

The maximum fare hike will be 2 paise per kilometre, as per the notification by the railway board.

Fares for non-AC coaches will increase by 1 paisa per kilometre, while AC classes will see a hike of 2 paise per kilometre.

Suburban trains and ordinary second-class travel for distances up to 500 kilometres will remain unaffected.

By how much will train fares go up?

Here's the revised list of fares.

Train type     Hike in fare

Second Class Ordinary     

Increase by ₹5 for 501-1500km

Increase by ₹10 for 1501-2500km

Increase by ₹15 for 2501-3000km

Sleeper Class Ordinary     Half paisa 

First Class Ordinary    Half paisa

Second Class (Mail/Exp)    one paisa

Sleeper Class (Mail/Exp)    one paisa

First Class (Mail/Exp)    one paisa

AC Chair Car     two paisa

AC-3 tier/3E    two paisa

AC-2 tier    two paisa

AC First Class /EC/EA    two paisa 

By how much will the rates of Rajdhani, Vande Bharat, others go up?

Basic fares of train services such as the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, AC Vistadome coach and other trains have also been revised as per the above-mentioned table.

The latest increase in train fares by Indian Railways marks the first hike since 2022, as per reports.

Is there a surge in reservation fees?

As per Indian Railways, other charges such as reservation fee and superfast surcharge will remain unchanged.

There are also no changes in fares for Monthly Season Tickets (MSTs) and Suburban train fares. 

Changes in reservation charts 

Apart from increasing train fares, Indian Railways has announced that reservation charts for long-distance trains will now be prepared eight hours before departure.

Earlier, the reservation charts used to be prepared four hours before a train’s scheduled departure.

What changes in Tatkal bookings?

Starting July 1, 2025, only passengers with completed Aadhaar verification will be eligible to book Tatkal tickets through the IRCTC website or mobile app.

OTP-based authentication will be done for Tatkal bookings from the end of July.

New Passenger Reservation System: What changes?

Apart from the changes in reservation charts, Indian Railways also aims to roll out a modernised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) by December 2025.

Here are the changes in the new PRS:

The new PRS will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This figure is roughly five times that of 32,000 tickets per minute in the current PRS, said the Railways, according to an ANI report.

    Users will be able to submit their choice of seat and see the fare calendar.

    PRS also has integrated facilities for Divyangjan, students and patients.