New Delhi: Indian Railways has rationalised its passenger fare structure with effect from December 26, to balance affordability for passengers and sustainability of its operations, the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on Thursday. The ministry clarified that under the revised fare structure, there is no change in fares for suburban services and season tickets, including both suburban and non-suburban routes.

For Ordinary Non-AC (Non-Suburban) services, fares have been rationalised in a graded manner across Second Class Ordinary, Sleeper Class Ordinary, and First Class Ordinary. In Second Class Ordinary, there is no increase in fare for journeys up to 215 km, ensuring that short-distance and daily commuters are not impacted.

For distances from 216 km to 750 km, the fare increases by Rs 5. For longer journeys, the increase is applied in steps — Rs 10 for distances between 751 km and 1250 km, Rs 15 for distances between 1251 km and 1750 km, and Rs 20 for distances between 1751 km and 2250 km, the statement explained.

In Sleeper Class Ordinary and First Class Ordinary, fares have been revised uniformly at the rate of 1 paise per kilometre for non-suburban journeys, ensuring a gradual and limited increase in fares.

In Mail and Express trains, the fare increase has been rationalised at 2 paise per kilometre across Non-AC and AC classes. This includes Sleeper Class, First Class, AC Chair Car, AC 3-Tier, AC 2-Tier, and AC First Class. As an illustration, for a 500 km journey in non-AC Mail and Express coaches, passengers will pay only about Rs 10 extra, the statement further explains.

The existing basic fares of major train services, including Tejas Rajdhani, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Vande Bharat, Humsafar, Amrit Bharat, Tejas, Mahamana, Gatimaan, Antyodaya, Garib Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Yuva Express, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, and Ordinary non-suburban services (excluding AC MEMU/DEMU, where applicable), have been revised in line with the approved class-wise basic fare increases. The revision has been carried out uniformly and in a calibrated manner across applicable classes, the statement said.

Notably, no changes have been made in reservation fees, superfast surcharges, or other ancillary charges, which will continue to be levied as per existing rules. GST applicability remains unchanged, and fares will continue to be rounded off according to prevailing norms, the statement pointed out.

The revised fares are applicable only on tickets booked on or after 26 December 2025. Tickets booked before this date will not attract any additional charges, even if the journey is undertaken after the effective date, the statement further explained.

The fare list displayed at stations will also be updated to reflect the new fares effective from December 26, the statement added.

Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the Indian equity benchmark Indies, opened in red on Friday on lacklustre global and domestic cues. While Nifty50 was just above 26,100, BSE Sensex was down over 140 points. At 9:16 AM, Nifty50 was trading at 26,101.30, down 41 points or 0.16%. BSE Sensex was at 85,267.87, down 141 points or 0.16%.Indian equity markets are expected to move in a narrow range as investors remain cautious in the absence of any major domestic economy triggers.Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited says, “With only four more trading days left for the year 2025, what looked like a Santa rally, appears to be running out of steam. In the absence of fresh triggers like a US-India trade deal, the market is likely to consolidate around the present levels. Higher US GDP growth of 4.3% for the third quarter of 2025 is imparting resilience to the US market. The high and rising profitability of US companies, including the AI ones, might nudge other FIIs, particularly the fleet footed hedge funds, to increase selling in India in the near-term.” “The sustained buying by the cash rich DIIs will support the market and prevent a sharp pull back. The ideal investment strategy for investors now is to remain invested in high quality large caps and slowly accumulate them on declines. A rally in the market in the early stage of 2026 is on the cards. Investors should give high weightage to value while deciding to invest. Irrational valuations in some of the IPOs and the willingness of the newbie investors to buy stocks at excessive valuations are reflections of exuberance in the market.”Asian markets saw modest gains on Friday amid thin trading conditions. Japanese and South Korean equities advanced, while several other regional markets remained closed for holidays. In the commodities market, silver surged to a record high, while gold traded close to its all-time peak.Oil prices edged higher on Friday after the United States stepped up economic pressure on Venezuelan oil exports and carried out airstrikes against Islamic State militants in northwest Nigeria at the request of the Nigerian government.On the institutional front, foreign portfolio investors were net sellers of Indian equities worth Rs 1,721 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors provided support by purchasing shares worth Rs 2,381 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market, other asset classes or personal finance management tips given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)