‘Rail concessions may return for senior citizens but with riders’

New Delhi : In the face of criticism from several quarters, the Railways is mulling the restoration of senior citizen concessions but for general and sleeper classes only, sources said here. Also on the cards is tweaking the age criteria by extending the concessional fare to those above 70 years, as against the earlier 58 for women and 60 for men, they said. The idea, the sources indicated, is to offset the cost of granting these concessions for the Railways while retaining the subsidy for the elderly.

“We understand that these concessions help the elderly and we never said we were going to scrap it completely. We are reviewing it and will take a decision on it,” one of the sources said. The sources indicated that the Railway Board is considering tweaking the age criteria for the senior citizen concession and extending it to only those above 70 years. This will limit the transporter’s liability, they said. Another provision the Railways is considering is to limit the concessions to non-AC travel only.