Train passengers are required to pay additional charges if they carry luggage beyond the prescribed free allowance during their journey, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Responding to a question by MP Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy on whether the Railways plans to introduce baggage regulations similar to those followed at airports, Vaishnaw said that the Indian Railways already has class-wise limits for luggage that passengers can carry inside train compartments.
In a written reply, the minister said that Second Class passengers are allowed to carry 35 kg of luggage free of cost, with a maximum permissible limit of 70 kg on payment of charges. Sleeper Class passengers can carry 40 kg free, with a maximum limit of 80 kg.
Passengers travelling in AC 3 Tier or Chair Car are permitted a free allowance of 40 kg, which is also the maximum limit. For First Class and AC 2 Tier, the free allowance is 50 kg, with a maximum permissible limit of 100 kg. AC First Class passengers are allowed to carry 70 kg free of cost and up to 150 kg on a chargeable basis.
“The maximum limit includes the free allowance,” Vaishnaw clarified.
He further stated that passengers are allowed to book and carry excess luggage beyond the free allowance inside the compartment, up to the maximum limit prescribed for their class, by paying charges at 1.5 times the luggage rate.
The minister said that trunks, suitcases and boxes with outside dimensions of 100 cm x 60 cm x 25 cm (length x breadth x height) are permitted to be carried in passenger compartments as personal luggage. Items exceeding any of these dimensions must be booked and carried in the brake van (SLRs) or parcel vans, and not inside passenger compartments.
Vaishnaw also clarified that merchandise items are not permitted to be carried as personal luggage in compartments. Excess luggage beyond the prescribed limits is required to be booked and transported in the brake vans of trains, subject to the maximum limits specified by the Railways.
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