Indian railways clarifies on Mumbai-Ahemedabad route occupancy

Ahmedabad Nov 2: Indian Railways has clarified about the reports that have emerged regarding the occupancy and profit of Mumbai-Ahmedabad route citing that there is 100 % occupancy in these routes.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted that "Contrary to media reports, Mumbai-Ahmedabad train section running at above 100% occupancy and will benefit immensely from Bullet train (sic)."

Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Ravinder Bhakar said that "Contrary to the reports, the Western Railway’s total earnings during the said three months from this sector were Rs 233 crore."

"It is pertinent to mention that despite the period from July to September 2017 being a lean season, the occupancy was above 100 per cent and the figure (of occupancy) for the period from October 2016 to September 2017 for 34 trains was 124.72 percent". the CPRO said

Earlier there were reports that Railways in an RTI reply said that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad section had 40 percent vacant seats and he the activist raised a concern over the bullet train project, saying it was not a viable option financially as well as from the point of view of the common man.