Congress workers to travel ticketless to protest train fare hike

Mumbai: Congress workers will travel without ticket in the suburban trains on Monday to protest the hike in fare.

"On Monday I will travel ticketless from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) to Thane (station) along with our party workers as part of our protest," Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Manikrao Thakre said.

"The Modi government has shown its true colours by increasing the train fares," he said.

On reports that Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is being replaced and the Congress observers visiting the city on Monday, Thakre said, "I have no such information. I have not been informed about any such thing. I don't have any information about Chief Minister being changed".

Meanwhile, women activists of NCP, the alliance partner of Congress, also held a protest at CST on Saturday to protest the fare hike.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said that party workers will protest the hike by travelling without tickets on suburban trains if fares are not reduced.

In one of the biggest hikes, railways on Friday raised passenger fares by 14.2 per cent for all classes and increased freight rates by 6.5 per cent to garner Rs 8000 crore annually.