Jet Airways reduces prices by 64%, Indian Airlines follows suit. This scheme is operational for three months — August to October, the lean tourist season. This is, of course, also a way for the airlines to recoup losses from the lack of tourist traffic (because of the travel advisories), but also has the salutary effect of giving Indian Railways a solid kick in the pants and rousing it out of its slumber. 2AC and 3AC (sometimes called ‘upper class’) berths cost a lot (in part because they subsidize freight and SL (`sleeper’) berths). Now, August through October, flying will have a cost comparable to that of traveling by train. Done round the year, this would kill off the market for xAC berths, with the entire customer base flocking to planes instead. I can only hope airlines would revisit this decision in September. (Relatively) cheap air travel round the year would transform Indian society and business, as distances will begin to matter less and less.

Update: The Railways prepares to slash prices on their fastest trains. These trains are comfortable for sure, but going from Chennai to New Delhi via train takes 29 hours on the fastest train (which is available twice a week), and 33.5 hours on a slightly slower train which is available everyday. Given the chance to cut that down to 4 hours for an extra 1000 bucks, I’d bite. About the only reason I can think of for choosing trains in a scenario like this would be capacity. A fully laden train can carry 1000+ people, and the Railways has a lot of ‘em. And while the airlines aren’t exactly lacking in planes, they have far less capacity to handle the sheer numbers the railways move every day. Ah, deregulation, where art thou?