Vikash Sharma

To showcase India's rich cultural heritage, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced the introduction of theme-based tourist circuit trains, ‘Bharat Gaurav Trains’.

Vaishnaw said the core strength of tourism sector would be leveraged to develop/identify tourist circuits and run these theme- based trains.

The Bharat Gaurav Trains are expected to tap the vast tourism potential of India. “We have allocated over 150 trains for ‘Bharat Gaurav’ initiative with 3033 coaches put up for use. We have received good response and will start taking applications from today. Stakeholders will modify and run the trains and the Railways will help in maintenance, parking and other facilities,” tweeted ANI quoting Vasihnaw.

This is a completely new segment and not a regular train service. The main purpose of ‘Bharat Gaurav’ trains is to boost tourism and there are many aspects to it.

As per a PIB release, the scope of the service providers would be free to decide theme like Guru Kripa trains for covering important places of Sikh culture, Ramayana trains for places connected with Lord Shri Ram etc.

 

 

Other Scope:

-Service providers to offer all inclusive package to tourist including rail travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing arrangement, visit to historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc.

-Full flexibility to decide package cost based on level of services being offered. -Choice of coaches suiting the clientele, different segments like luxury, budget etc.

-Free to design/furnish interior of the coaches based on the theme.

-Branding and advertisement permitted both inside and outside of train. -Train composition will be of 14 to 20 coaches including 2 SLRs(Guard Vans).

Process:

-Easy one step transparent online registration process. Registration fees of Rs 1 (One) Lakh only.

-Allotment of coaches to all eligible applicants subject to availability.

-Priority to be based on the Rake Security Deposit Time and Date. Rake Security Deposit of Rs 1 (one) Crore per rake.

-Individual, Partnership Firm, Company, Society, trust, JV/Consortium (Unincorporated/Incorporated) are eligible.

-Right to Use charges and Haulage charges notified in the policy for Service Provider to work out his business model.

-Right to Use Period: 2-10 years.

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