India's middle-classes are rekindling their affair with long-distance train travel, as sharp increases in domestic airline ticket prices push many former frequent fliers back to the railways.
India has enjoyed a boom in domestic air travel, as low-cost carriers, led by Air Deccan, brought the once-seeming luxury of air travel within the reach of a far greater number of Indians, who previously relied on the country's colonial-era rail system for most long journeys.
Sharp rises in the price of fuel have increased India's domestic airline ticket prices by up to
20 per cent, prompting many cost-conscious Indians to turn away from air travel.
In July, India's airlines carried 12.6 per cent fewer passengers on domestic flights than a year earlier, at 3.04m.
At Indian Railways, the vast state network, traveller numbers in its more up-market, air-conditioned cars surged by nearly 50 per cent in the same period.
"We feel that some passengers are diverting to the trains from planes," said Anil Kumar Saxena, of the railways ministry, but he said it was too early to know whether the trend would last.
Pankaj Gupta, a partner in New Delhi's Outbound Travels, said "a lot of people can't believe that so recently it was x-y-z to fly somewhere and now it's up by 20 per cent. It's a shock to them. A lot of people are deferring their travel, saying 'we'll think about it and let you know'."
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