Non-AC Sleeper and unreserved general class train tickets make up around 40 per cent of the total travel concessions availed by senior citizens, according to Railways data. Ticket concessions for senior citizens have been stopped for more than two years citing pandemic-related concerns, and during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament, the Railways Minister had told Lok Sabha that restarting the concession “is not desirable”.
Before the pandemic, in the year 2019-20, senior citizens availed of concessions amounting to Rs 1,667 crore in all classes of rail travel. This was a growth of about 1.8 per cent over the previous year’s figure.
