Railways likely to shelve plan to charge user fee for stations as redevelopment to be funded from govt coffers

NEW DELHI: With the Union cabinet deciding to take up redevelopment of major railway stations with full government funding, the earlier decision to levy “Station Development Fee” (SDF) or user fee on the lines of airports won’t be pursued by the railways anymore.

Earlier this year, the national transporter had notified different user fees for passengers travelling in sleeper and AC classes for their boarding or alighting at “developed/ redeveloped” stations.

The Railway Board had approved levying the SDF between Rs 10 and Rs 50. The railways had planned to add such a charge automatically to the fare while booking tickets as it is done in the case of booking of flight tickets.