* Large number of berths going vacant as the exorbitant cost (upto 4 times normal fare) has gone beyond the reach of common & honest persons. It is an example of bad business ethics/policy for a monopolistic govt organisation.
* Journey of looting paxs by innovative means:
(1) IR started tatkal scheme several years back with some what understandable logic that if people are paying more money to touts, why not IR sell directly the tatkal seats to needy last minute paxs who normally pay handsome amount to touts. Extra money shall come...
more... to kitty of IR instead of touts which shall be helpful in improvement of rail services.
(2) Later on IR increased the tatkal quota to whopping 30% of total berths, and
(3) then it became a super tout/ extortionistby charging several times the normal fare in the mane of premium tatkal. ACIII fares too many times exceeded airfare!!
(4) Then came Suvidha- New avtaar of Premium Tatkal
(5) Then came flexifares where only 10% of general tickets and only 6-7% of total tickets were sold at normal fares and rest at higher flexifares upto 150% of narmal fare.
(6) Other means like inordinately increasing cancellation charges, SF charges, reservation charges, denying separate berth to half ticket children, Increasing RAC seats, SMB(later removed), putting conditions on circular jlounry tickets etc.
* Had the same level of innovation applied by IR to running trains efficiently, pursuing right projects, in changing organisational structure, R&D, better accounting etc, IR would have been at the top instead of continuously losing its freight and pax traffic share to roadways and airlines.
* IR taking pride in collecting 10% more fare with half of the berths going vacant in these exorbitantly priced train shows the stubbornness of IR to waste national resources to the inconvenience of public and convenience of IR. So SUVIDHA Express is a SUVIDHA for IR and ASUVIDHA for hapless paxs.