In order to generate revenue to provide better facilities for passengers, user fees will be levied by Indian Railways as part of train fares. The user fee will be for the railway stations that have either been redeveloped or have high footfall.
Recently, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said that once it comes into effect, for the first time such charges will be levied on Indian Railways passengers. The user fee charges will be nominal and they will be applicable in about 10% to 15% of the 7,000 railway stations across India.
According to Yadav, when the station redevelopment works are completed, the money will go to the concessionaires. Till then that money will go to the national transporter for upgrading facilities across railway stations.
Indian Railways will only levy the charge on all major railway stations of India where the passenger footfall will increase in the next five years. Railway Ministry has plans to redevelop as many as 50 railway stations and monetize its land. The redeveloped and modernized hubs will be known as 'Railopolis', and it will lease the land out for a period of 60 years for commercial purposes. The station redevelopment scheme was first announced in the year 2016 wherein a total of 400 such railway stations were planned to be overhauled completely