Railways launches 'Bharat Gaurav' trains
New Delhi: To boost the "huge potential of tourism", Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced the "Bharat Gaurav" scheme — a theme-based tourist circuit trains that can be run either by private or state-owned operators. The ministry commenced the application process on the same day.
Indian Railways will provide a total of 3,033 coaches, which is equivalent to more than 180 trains as of now. But the minister asserted that the number of trains can be varied according to the number of applications.
"Initially ICF coaches will be provided to run the trains across the tourist circuits. But the ministry is open with the proposal of providing new LHB, Tejas, Vande Bharat and even the Vistadome coaches for this purpose. But it is a time taking process," Vaishnaw mentioned while announcing the scheme.
The minister also confirmed that the service providers, who can be an individual, company, society, trust, joint venture or consortium will be free to decide themes, hotels, foods, ticket pricing etc. They will offer an all-inclusive package to tourists including rail travel, hotel accommodation and sightseeing arrangement, visit historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc and have full flexibility to decide the package costs. Further, the tourism-based train services will not be like the regular train services. It will have a specific schedule.
As the private companies have shown interest in the project, the pricing of the tickets raised the main concern. However, the rail minister said that though the tour operators will fix the ticket price, the ministry will monitor the system.
"We aim to create awareness on the reach culture and heritage among our next generation. We need to understand that while the entire world is showing interest in India," he added.
There will be a combination of coaches in such trains. The ministry aims to connect these train services to the cultural and religious spots initially. "We have to be more sensitive towards every segment, either, food service, or announcements, or the attire of the attendants. We do not want to hurt anyone's sentiment," the minister said.
The rail ministry has also specified the application process starting with the online registration process with a fee of Rs 1 lakh. Then the allotment of coaches to all eligible applicants is subject to availability. Priority to be based on the Rake Security Deposit Time and Date. Rake Security Deposit is Rs 1 crore per rake. Right to Use charges and Haulage charges are notified in the policy for the service provider to work out his business model and lastly, the Right to Use period will be for 2-10 years.
Further, the minister confirmed that the customer support units are to be made functional in the field for hand holding the service provider and for smooth implementation of this scheme.
