January 1, 2006	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 29, 1426

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LAHORE, Dec 31: The Pakistan Railways has further ‘adjusted’ the fuel surcharge added some two weeks ago to its fares, raising the ceiling from Rs30 to Rs35 per ticket.

Effective from Sunday (today), the surcharge would now be charged at a rate of Rs5 on a journey of 51 to 100 kilometres. From 101 to 150 kms the surcharge would be Rs10, from 151 to 300 kms (Rs15), from 301 to 600 kms (Rs20), from 601 to 1,000 kms (Rs30) and Rs35 for a journey above 1,000 kilometres. No surcharge would be charged for a journey up to 50 kilometres.

The railways had added a fuel surcharge of up to Rs30 per ticket to its fares from Dec 15. The commuters travelling up to 50 kilometres were not paying it while those travelling from 51 to 100 kms were paying Rs5, from 101 to 500 kms (Rs15) and above 501 kms (Rs20).

Railway officials said on Saturday the raise in POL prices had caused an additional burden of Rs1,300 million on the organization since July this year.

Railway documents say the passengers travelling up to 501 or more kilometres are only 20 per cent of the total commuters, but they contribute 68.2 per cent of the total income from passenger trains.

Those who travel from 251 to 500 kilometres are 10.5 per cent and have 12.8 share in the income.

At least 18 per cent travel for 101-250 kilometres and claim a 10.76 per cent contribution to the earnings. Some 23 per cent commuters use railway to cover 41 to 100 kilometres and their share in the income is just 5.37 per cent.

The lowest earning of just 2.84 per cent is fetched from those who opt to travel through railway for one to 40 kilometres.