Joy ride rates slashed

Vivek Chhetri, Darjeeling, Feb. 20: The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway today slashed the rates of the joy ride on the Darjeeling-Ghoom-Darjeeling route citing errors in calculating the fares.

The fare for a joy ride in a steam engine was brought down today to Rs 1,090 from the earlier Rs 1,165. The joy ride in a diesel engine will cost Rs 625 as against the previous rate of Rs 695.

Starting from Wednesday, the DHR had hiked its rate for the steam engine joy ride from Rs 400 to Rs 1,165. The joy ride in a diesel engine had been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 695.

Narendra Mohan, area manager, DHR, today said: "There was some mistake in computing the total fare. The registration fee was added twice. We have done correction as a result of which the new rates are being applied from today."

According to Mohan, the base fare for a steam engine is Rs 1,000. "The base fare for a steam engine ride is Rs 1000. We are charging Rs 50 as registration fee and charging 3. 78 per cent as service tax on Rs 10.50. The service tax for steam engine comes to Rs 38. Rounding up the total amount, the fare stands at Rs 1,090," he said.

For the diesel engine, the break up is Rs 550 as the base fare, Rs 50 as registration fee and Rs 22.20 as service tax at the rate of 3.78 per cent.

The DHR has said the 8am joy ride will be pulled by a diesel engine, while steam engines will be used for the joy rides at 10.40am, 1.20pm and 4.05pm.

Mohan said the DHR would refund the extra money charged from passengers who had taken the rides on Wednesday and yesterday. On Wednesday, 68 passengers had availed themselves of the joy ride, while 168 people had taken the joy ride yesterday.

"Those who have booked online can go to the ticket deposit receipt section (of https://irctc.co.in) and they will be guided to the refund section. Tourist can also come to the Darjeeling railway station for the refund," said Mohan.

The fare of charter trains, which was hiked from Rs 22,000 to Rs 55,000 and increased rates for second class ride and jungle safari from Siliguri to Tindharia will, however, remain the same.