Passengers must pay for extra luggage on trains: Railway Minister
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New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that train passengers are required to pay charges for carrying luggage beyond the prescribed free allowance limits.
Responding to a query by MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy on whether the Railways plans to introduce baggage regulations similar to those followed at airports, Vaishnaw said that class-wise limits for carrying luggage inside passenger compartments are already in place.
In a written reply, the minister shared a table detailing the free allowance and maximum permissible luggage limits for each travel class. Passengers travelling in Second Class are allowed to carry up to 35 kilograms of luggage free of cost, with a maximum limit of 70 kilograms on payment of charges. For Sleeper Class, the free allowance is 40 kilograms, while the maximum permissible limit is 80 kilograms.
Travellers in AC 3 Tier and Chair Car are permitted to carry up to 40 kilograms, which also constitutes the maximum limit. First Class and AC 2 Tier passengers can carry 50 kilograms free of cost, with an upper limit of 100 kilograms. AC First Class passengers are entitled to a free allowance of 70 kilograms and may carry up to 150 kilograms on a chargeable basis.
Vaishnaw clarified that the maximum limit includes the free allowance. He added that passengers can carry excess luggage beyond the free limit inside compartments up to the prescribed maximum by paying charges at one-and-a-half times the standard luggage rate.
The minister also said that trunks, suitcases and boxes with maximum dimensions of 100 cm x 60 cm x 25 cm (length x breadth x height) are permitted as personal luggage in passenger compartments. Items exceeding any of these dimensions must be booked and transported in the brake van (SLRs) or parcel vans, and not inside passenger compartments.
Vaishnaw further clarified that merchandise items are not permitted to be carried as personal luggage in compartments. He reiterated that any excess luggage beyond the prescribed limits is transported in the brake vans of trains, subject to the maximum booking limits specified for such vans.
With PTI inputs