Yeshwantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express to cost nearly Rs 200 extra due to distance inflation

People taking the Yeshwantpur-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express starting November 15 will pay nearly Rs 200 extra in chair car and about Rs 300 extra in executive chair car when compared to other Vande Bharat services covering the same distance. The actual base fare between Yeshwantpur and Madgaon in chair car is around Rs 1,186, but the actual distance of 670 kilometres gets inflated to about 844 kilometres, raising the base fare to Rs 1,369. In the executive chair car class, the fare goes up from Rs 2,444 to Rs 2,795. These base fares do not include reservation charges of Rs 40 and Rs 60, superfast charges of Rs 45 and Rs 75, and a five percent GST. Passengers who want food onboard will also pay extra catering charges ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 600.

Route And Fares

Specific destination fares show similar increases across the route. For Karwar, the base fare will likely be Rs 1,292 instead of the actual Rs 1,100 in chair car, and Rs 2,642 instead of Rs 2,253 in executive class. For Udupi, the chair car fare climbs from Rs 809 to Rs 931, while the executive fare rises from Rs 1,651 to Rs 1,890. For Mangaluru Junction, the chair car base fare goes up from Rs 721 to Rs 809, and the executive fare increases from Rs 1,468 to Rs 1,561. Other Vande Bharat routes in Karnataka charge normal fares for similar distances, such as the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Central service.

Why Fares Are Higher

The higher price happens because the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited inflates its network distance by 40 percent to calculate passenger fares, pushing the 300 kilometre stretch between Thokur and Madgaon to 416 kilometres. At the same time, the South Western Railway doubles the 55 kilometre distance on the Ghat section between Sakleshpur and Subrahmanya Road to 110 kilometres. The South Western Railway states that Indian Railways follows this practice on nearly all Ghat routes due to difficult operational terrains. The Konkan Railway Corporation was originally allowed to inflate distances to recover its construction cost of about Rs 3,555 crore, and now points to heavy maintenance costs caused by difficult geographical conditions.

Context

Railways often use distance inflation on difficult hill sections and special rail networks to cover high building and upkeep expenses. This practice means ticket pricing is calculated using a higher virtual distance rather than the physical track length. Passengers traveling through challenging terrain frequently see these adjustments reflected in their final ticket costs.