The Hindu Business Line : IRCTC plans Buddhist circuit tourist trains

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to develop Buddhist circuit tourist trains for both the high end and economy segments. These trains would target both domestic and foreign tourists — specifically from Sri Lanka and the Far East.

"We plan to design and implement economy and luxury trains covering Buddhist circuit destinations like Nalgonda, Sanchi, Ajanta, Kushinagar, Gaya and Sarnath," said Mr Rakesh Saksena, Director (Operations), IRCTC.

He added that IRCTC would be working on the backward linkages with various tour operators to ensure accommodation and local transport to and from railway stations.

Budget Segment

"While we expect to see a quantum jump in all our luxury train products — including luxury trains and luxury charters, we are also trying to increase activities in budget tourism segment," Mr Saksena said.

This proposal is a part of IRCTC's overall move to generate revenues by offering targeted tourist products for different economic segments — both domestic and international. They include luxury tourist trains on the lines of Palace on Wheels, apart from domestic tourist trains, hill tourist trains, steam tourist trains, tourist coaches among others.

Hill Trains

While the luxury tourist trains are designed for upmarket foreign tourists, domestic tourist trains would be targeted at the domestic tourists and include tourism circuits. IRCTC also plans to develop hill tourist trains with varying composition, which would be run on hill sections, Dr P.K. Goel, Managing Director, IRCTC, said.