BackNow, IRCTC to provide taxi, hotel booking and baggage services to Tejas Express passengers
Besides offering transportation and baggage services, IRCTC would also provide wheelchair services to the needy, Railway Board Chairman V.K. Yadav saidThe railways would invite private companies to operate trains in the near future, the Railway Board Chairman said
PremiumNew Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to provide hotel bookings, taxi and baggage pick-and-drop facilities, among others, to its customers travelling by Tejas Express trains on the Delhi-Lucknow and Mumbai-Ahmedabad routes.
This is the first time IRCTC, an Indian railway subsidiary, is offering such services to its customers, Railway Board Chairman V.K. Yadav said on Monday. Besides offering transportation and baggage services, IRCTC would also provide wheelchair services to the needy, Yadav told reporters in New Delhi.
Yadav further said as in many developed countries, the railways would invite private companies to operate trains in the near future. He said just like commercial airlines operating fights from airports run by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the railways would allow firms to operate trains on different routes. He said discussions on the topic have already been initiated and a lot of stakeholders have shown interest.
Referring to the new IRCTC initiative, Yadav said safety, locomotives and guards will be under the purview of the railways, while all on board services will be with IRCTC. The senior official added that the initiative is part of three-year pilot project and a blueprint prepared the Railway Board to handover the two trains to the IRCTC has already been readied. The services of these two trains will be at par with Shatabdi Express trains, he further added.
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