Indian Railways passengers found travelling with excess baggage may soon have to pay a hefty penalty. The Railways has decided to enforce its decades-old baggage allowance rules after complaints that passengers were travelling with huge quantities of luggage, inconveniencing fellow travellers.
At present, railway passengers have a generous on-board baggage allowance, as well as an allowance for excess baggage that they can book onto the train’s luggage van after paying a small fee.
“The rules were already in place, we are just enforcing them strictly now,” the director of Information and Publicity, Railway Board, Ved Prakash, told PTI. “Passengers are allowed to book and carry excess luggage in the luggage van, up to the maximum limit, on the payment of a fee equivalent to one-and-a-half-times the luggage rate.”
According to the rules, passengers found violating luggage allowance norms will have to pay a penalty up to six times the luggage rate. The railways started a special drive across all its zones to enforce these rules in the first week of June.
Luggage allowances
As per the norms, sleeper class passengers can carry up to 40 kg luggage on board with them, while a second class passenger can carry up to 35 kg. A sleeper class passenger can carry another 40 kg in the luggage van on payment of a fee. Similarly, the luggage van allowance for a second class passenger is 35 kg. The excess baggage fee for a sleeper class passenger works out to Rs 109 for 40 kg.
The on-board luggage allowance for an AC-I-tier class passenger is 70 kg, with another 80 kg allowance that can be booked into the luggage van. AC-II-tier passengers are permitted to carry 50 kg luggage with them, with another 50 kg in the luggage van.
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