Congress demands Railway Minister’s resignation over train fare hike

The Congress on Monday (December 22, 2025) demanded the resignation of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, accusing the government of distracting taxpayers with irrelevant issues, to hike train fares on the sly, at a time when the condition of the national carrier has deteriorated.

The Congress flagged that train fares had been raised twice since June 2024 when the Narendra Modi government came to power for the third time. Addressing a press conference at the Indira Bhawan headquarters of the party, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar said Mr. Vaishnaw had smartly increased the fare by one paisa or two paise per km, but it burdend the common public “by ₹100-₹200”.

He asserted that the Railways are the “backbone of India’s economy”, not a means to “make profit”. Mr. Kumar called Mr. Vaishnaw a “reel minister”, not a “rail minister”, accusing him of focusing on digital content as opposed to the core issues of the Railways.

The Railway Ministry on Sunday announced a hike in ticket prices by one paise per km for travel in ordinary class beyond 215 km, and two paise per km for non-AC classes of mail/express trains and AC classes of all trains. The new rates will be effective from December 26, 2025. The government has said the increase in fares will fetch ₹600 crore to the Railways till March 31, 2026.

The train fares, Mr. Kumar said, had been increased in the last decade by the Modi government by up to 107%. He also demanded that Kavach — India’s Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system that prevents train collision — should be immediately implemented in all trains, saying that the “bullet train can wait but not safety”. Kavach is only available in 3% of trains, he pointed out.

“We urge Ashwini Vaishnaw to resign, because the condition of the Railways has deteriorated under him and due to his style of functioning. He should listen to his inner conscience,” Mr. Kumar said. ‘Reel minister’ Ashwini Vaishnaw should resign, he reiterated. The Congress leader claimed that the CAG report had stated that the food served on trains was not fit for human consumption.