* "A different fare for each suburban system" is the first step in rationalising the suburban service. Involvement of the concerned state government (through Joint venture with IR) in construction of new suburban projects is old practice. If JV also takes care of the operation of suburban trains also, then the suburban train losses shall come down drastically or it may become no profit-no loss venture for IR. The gates shall be opened for operating cost effective suburban trains in many cities like Ahmedabad, Pune, etc.
* If metro trains of different cities can have different fares, Suburban trains too may have different fares structure depending upon the stance/co-operation by respective state govts. Subsidies of suburban trains should not put burden (like...
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flexi/Suvidhafares) on long distance paxs.
* Flexifares are good concept to manage crowd but only if implemented properly. Any flexifare surcharge of beyond 20% of normal fare is too high for the poor passengers. And duration of peak charges too has to be limited like 4-6 hrs max in a day (one slot of morning peak hrs and one slot of evening peak hrs. Not that almost full day is covered in flexi surcharge excepting about a couple of hours each during early morning, late night & noon. Rajdhani type flexifares where 90% paxs pay flexifare surcharge of upto 50% of normal fare is nothing less than armtwisted extortion.