Faced with all-round protests, the Modi government is considering recalibrating suburban railway fares in Mumbai and elsewhere in order to stagger the burden of last week's massive hike over phases instead of heaping all of it on the commuter in one go.

On a day when the Shiv Sena slammed the unprecedented fare increase in Mumbai, top government sources indicated that they planned to work out whether a reduction of subsidy on suburban fares -- the reason for the crippling jump -- could be spread over a period of time. Read more