The premium trains introduced to decongest traffic this festive season has not found many takers because of high pricing. Bookings started on October 5 and 6. As many as 300-350 berths in the second AC and third AC coaches are lying vacant in each of the trains. Commuters are upset that there is no rationale behind the pricing of the tickets.

For instance, a third AC ticket from Chennai to Coimbatore costs Rs. 3,032 and a second AC ticket is priced at Rs. 3177. The difference is a mere Rs. 145. On a normal day, the same third AC ticket would cost Rs. 802. A flight ticket to Coimbatore, if booked a month in advance, would have taken away Rs. 1,900 from the commuter’s wallet. Even a hired private cab would cost only Rs. 9,000 to travel the same distance, plying at least four persons.

“Usually, these tickets would sell like hot cakes. But there is no justification for the pricing. When you book the ticket, it shows a different base fare and when you get into the payment gateway, the amount varies. Not just there is a service tax and service charge. What does it mean,” questioned Priyadarshini Karthikeyan, a commuter who logged out of the IRCTC website after seeing the price.

As on October 9, 150 second and third AC tickets were available on the Chennai-Coimbatore train. The Chennai-Nagercoil train had 140 tickets idle and the Chennai-Tirunelveli 110 tickets. It was the same with other trains.

Commuters are also upset that the services would be no different on these trains. “There is no value-added service. At least a bottle of water for charging such an exorbitant price would have made sense,” said S. Mathanath, who has booked his ticket for Madurai, fearing further hikes.

A senior official of Southern Railway said this was similar to the supply-demand theory. “As demand goes up, we will further hike the price,” he said.

Asked for a break-up of pricing, he said: “This is similar to airfares. As the journey date nears, the prices go up.”

Even return tickets post Deepavali has not been sold. The Nagercoil-Chennai train on October 23 has more than 800 tickets open.

But railway officials have a different view.

“As date nears, people will surely book tickets. The trains will run full,” the official said.