CSTM-Karmali Tejas express is successful on introduction due to :
(1) Craze amongst people to experience the much touted 22 new passenger features
(2) Introduced in the peak season and peak summer time when demand for seats, especially in ac class is on very high.
(3) Good end destinations- Mumbai-Goa is lucrative sector as it has very high air pax traffic.
(4)...
more... Giving high priority to Tejas which cover distance in just 8:30hrs as against ACDD which take 11:57 hrs for the journey. Had Tejas taken similar time, the response would have been poorer than present. Journey time is a very important factor. If Tejas does the journey in 6 hrs as planned way back in 2003, one more Tejas (complementary one) shall be required on the route to satiate its demand.
(5) Occupancy of this Tejas during Monsoon TT, when it will take about 11 hrs for the journey needs to be seen
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Tejas definitely is not the most successful train ever introduced, Many Brands are many successful brands of trains with decreasing success -Rajdhani, SK, Shatabdi, GR, JanShatabdi, Duronto, HS, ACDD. The place of Tejas brand in the above series may be in the middle range i.e. Shatabdi-HS, much depends on the destinations chosen.
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It may be noted that
(1) SK, GR,HS are promoted by IR- by not applying flexifares
(2) Tejas is also promoted by not applying Flexifares and charging just 20% of basic fare over Shatabdi fare for comparatively much better facilities provided. Making catering optional is also a matter of promotion.
(3) HS is also partially promoted by IR by applying much milder flexifares than Raj/Shat/Duro
(4) ACDD is discouraged by IR by not reducing fares for cumbersome seats which cost much lesser to IR.
(5) Rajdhani is the best brand which is giving good patronage in spite of very harsh flexifares imposed on these trains.