New Delhi: Indian Railways has decided to run 150 theme-based “Bharat Gaurav” trains to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and historical places across the country.
“It is a special segment which will begin by the railways in a public, private partnership model to boost the tourism sector in the country,” said Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw here on Tuesday.
The Minister said this is a completely new segment. This is not a regular train service. ‘Bharat Gaurav’ trains’ main purpose is to boost tourism and there are many aspects to it”. He further added that the core strength of the professionals of the tourism sector would be leveraged to develop/identify tourist circuits and run theme-based trains to tap the vast tourism potential of India.
These trains will run, by both private players and IRCTC, in theme-based circuits, the railways minister said. As many as 3,033 coaches have been identified and around 190 trains have been allocated. “We’ll start taking applications from today. We’ve received good response from the stakeholders and they will modify and run the train and Railways will help in maintenance, parking and other facilities,” he said.
The service provider would be free to decide the theme of the train and they will also be free to offer all inclusive packages to tourists including rail, travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing arrangement. “Branding and advertisement are permitted both inside and outside of the train,” said the Minister.
“Keeping in the mind the transparency, the operator has been given the right to see and check those coaches before applying,” he said. The Minister added that these coaches would have the option of all types of coaches and rakes of all categories like ICF and LBH, etc. “Even after the allocation of 150 trains, if there is demand in the market, the railways will also provide more trains” he said.
