India · Travel
Estimate the fare for your journey from distance and class — with every charge itemized, and the flexi-fare range on premium trains.
The route distance is printed on your ticket and shown on NTES / train enquiry sites.
Estimated fare · Sleeper (SL) · 500 km
₹295
Indicative estimate — the fare IRCTC shows at booking is final.
Excludes IRCTC convenience fee, payment gateway charges, catering on trains where it is bundled, and Tatkal premium — for that, see the Tatkal charges calculator.
Pick the class
From Second Sitting to AC First — the class multiplier is the biggest factor in the fare.
Enter the distance
Use the km figure from your ticket or a train enquiry site; the city-pair chips fill common routes.
Pick the train category
Superfast adds a fixed charge; Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto show a flexi-fare range instead of one number.
Read the breakdown
Base fare, reservation fee, superfast charge, and GST — so you know what the IRCTC total is made of.
Every reserved fare is assembled from the same parts. The base fare comes from a distance table that is telescopic — each additional kilometre costs less than the last, which is why a 2,000 km journey is far less than four times a 500 km one. The class you pick scales that base: AC 3-Tier runs roughly 2.7× Sleeper, AC 2-Tier close to 4×, AC First around 6.5×.
On top come the fixed charges: a reservation fee of ₹15–60 by class, a superfast charge of ₹15–75 on trains classified superfast, and 5% GST on AC classes only. Premium trains add the flexi-fare mechanism — the base fare climbs in 10% steps as berths sell, up to about 1.4× — which is why this calculator shows a range for them and why booking a Rajdhani early genuinely saves money.
Treat the output as a planning number, calibrated to land within about 10% on Mail/Express-family trains. The exact fare depends on the route’s chartered distance and train-specific extras, and what IRCTC shows at payment is final. If plans might change after booking, our cancellation calculator tells you how much of this fare comes back at each stage.
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Last reviewed
July 19, 2026
Content update
Auto-updated on Jun 28, 2026
Scope: Models the published Indian Railways fare structure (telescopic base fare, class multipliers, reservation/superfast charges, GST) calibrated against current fares on common routes. Estimates only — dynamic pricing, catering bundles, and fare revisions make the IRCTC booking amount authoritative.
Primary references
“What should this ticket cost?” is answerable from two inputs — distance and class — because Indian Railways fares are formula-built, not market-priced (except the flexi-fare premium trains). This calculator reconstructs that formula and itemizes the result, so an IRCTC total is never a surprise again.
It covers all eight reserved classes across Mail/Express, Superfast, and premium flexi-fare trains, and separates the parts people usually conflate: the distance-based fare, the fixed fees, and the taxes.
Delhi to Mumbai (about 1,384 km) in AC 3-Tier on a superfast train: a base fare around ₹1,438, plus ₹40 reservation fee, ₹45 superfast charge, and 5% GST — roughly ₹1,600 per passenger. The same journey in Sleeper: about ₹585, with no GST.
Base fare = telescopic per-km slabs (₹0.49/km up to 500 km, stepping down to ₹0.22/km beyond 2,000 km on the Sleeper scale) × the class multiplier. Add the class’s reservation fee, the superfast charge where applicable, then 5% GST on AC classes; totals round to the nearest ₹5. Premium trains additionally show the ~1.4× flexi-fare ceiling as a range.
The fare is built from a distance-based base fare (telescopic — the per-km rate falls as the journey gets longer), multiplied up by class, plus fixed charges: a reservation fee (₹15–60 by class), a superfast charge on superfast trains (₹15–75), 5% GST on AC classes, and catering where bundled. Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto add flexi-fare on top, which raises the base fare with demand.
This tool models the published fare structure from distance and class, calibrated to be within roughly 10% on Mail/Express-family trains. Real fares also depend on the exact route distance, train-specific catering, dynamic pricing on premium trains, and periodic fare revisions. The amount IRCTC shows at booking is always the authoritative fare.
On Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto trains, the base fare rises in steps (typically 10% per 10% of berths sold) up to a ceiling of roughly 1.4× in most classes. Book early on these trains: the same seat can cost 40% more once the quota fills. Executive and First AC are generally exempt from surge.
Children aged 5–11 pay the full adult fare if you opt for a separate berth for them; without a berth (sharing with an adult), roughly half fare applies in reserved classes. Under-5s travel free without a berth. The choice is made per child while booking.
No. The senior citizen concession (40% for men 60+, 50% for women 58+) has been suspended since March 2020 and had not been restored as of mid-2026 — seniors pay full fare. Lower-berth quota priority for seniors continues.
Only on AC and first-class tickets, at 5%. Sleeper and Second Sitting fares carry no GST. The 5% applies to the fare including reservation and superfast charges, and it is not refunded on the cancellation-charge portion if you cancel.