Rail commuters can buy yearly, half-yearly passes from today

To save commuters using Mumbai's suburban train network time and effort, the Railways from today will issue them half yearly season tickets (HST) and yearly season tickets (YST)

Till now, the railways offered only monthly season tickets and quarterly (3 months) season tickets. The new season tickets will be available to all passengers. The charge of the half yearly and annual pass will be 5.4 times and 10.8 times the cost of the monthly season ticket respectively.

This means a monthly first class season ticket from CST to Dadar, which costs Rs 290 (first class), will be available for Rs 1,566 on half yearly basis for the same distance. The new passes turn out to be more economical too.

Bus fare hike
The good news for suburban travellers stops here as bus fares are all set to be hiked from today. The hike comes after the rise in fuel prices left the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) incurring losses. The fare for normal buses will rise by a rupee. For air-conditioned buses the fare will rise by Rs 5.

April 2012
BEST's last fare hike