The Railway Ministry on Thursday officially notified a hike in train ticket prices by 1 paise per km for ordinary class beyond a journey of 215 km, and 2 paise per km for non-AC classes of mail/express trains and AC classes of all trains. On December 21, the ministry announced its decision to increase the passenger fares from December 26. This is the second time in a year that the ministry has revised passenger train fares. The earlier fare hike was implemented in July. Justifying its decision, the ministry stated that the rationalising of fares has "the objective of balancing affordability for passengers and sustainability of operations". "Under the revised fare structure, there is no change in fares for suburban services and season tickets, including both suburban and non-suburban routes. For ordinary non-AC (non-suburban) services, fares have been rationalised in a graded manner across second class ordinary, sleeper class ordinary, and first class ordinary," the ministry said in