Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) should soon get Navaratna status, Suresh C Angadi, Minister of State for Railways, announced here today.
IRCTC is a mini-ratna, listed-public sector unit, which requires it to be profitable continuously for certain number of years to get Navratna status.
He said this while announcing the relaunch of golden chariot luxury train, an international luxury train. IRCTC is expected to carry out internal refurbishment of the train and commence operations from March 2020.
“Keep the prices competitive to attract more people,” Angadi, Minister of State for Railways, said.
Hoping that people in the country, those in IT sector of Karnataka and foreigners will use the luxury tourist trains, Angadi hoped that IRCTC and KSDTC will keep the prices of tickets competitive to ensure wider acceptability by the common people.
Golden Chariot luxury train had gone into losses due to occupancy levels and high costs. Lower occupancy and higher haulage charges (the rate charged by Indian Railways for pulling the trains of Indian Railways) had pushed the trains to make losses.
Now, Indian Railways has decided to slash the haulage charges by half and make the train more sustainable, CT Ravi, Minister of Tourism, Karnataka, said here on Tuesday.
IRCTC and KSTDC will have a revenue sharing arrangement depending on the level of occupancy.
Luxury trains operate right now in India - one each by Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Karnataka Development Tourism Corporation, and IRCTC.
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