Tag Archives: IRCTC

The Golden Chariot, to be run by IRCTC, will restart operations from January 2021 in a new avatar. The train was handed over to the IRCTC for operational and marketing purposes by the Karnataka Tourism Department in January 2020. IRCTC has said that the tours will commence from Bengaluru and cover places in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala before returning to Bengaluru. The IRCTC has introduced three packages for tourists.

Amazon India has joined hands with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), allowing customers to book train tickets on the e-commerce website. For the introductory period, the company has waived off service and payment gateway transaction charges. Amazon is also offering 10% cashback of up to Rs100 on first booking while Prime members can avail 12% cashback of up to Rs120.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has cancelled all three Tejas trains till 30th April owing to a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country. The decision is also taken keeping in mind that a lot of train staff is outsourced, looking at the uncertainty on how and when the lockdown will be lifted. However, no decision is taken yet on the operation of other passenger trains run by Indian Railways.  IRCTC runs three premium, private passenger trains across three routes– Lucknow-New Delhi-Lucknow, Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Kashi Mahakal express connecting Varanasi and Indore. Full ticket fare will be refunded automatically, without any cancellation charges, to all the users/passengers having booked tickets for journey during the above period.

The Ministry of Railways is considering barring private vendors and agents from booking train tickets for passengers. Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has said that they are no longer needed when tickets can be booked by anyone on a mobile. “I think vendors and private agents are not needed, those who need help in buying tickets can go to “common service centres” which are run by the government,” he said in Lok Sabha, adding that he was considering barring them. Reacting to this, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) in a letter to the minister said that the proposal will affect employment generated by over 3 lakh agents network and also the revenue of IRCTC. “We would like to highlight that there are more than 100 service providers offering these services through 3,00,000 agent networks. The closure of their services will not only impact the investments are done and employment generated by these agents but will also affect the revenue of IRCTC, as there are many people in India who need assistance for booking the tickets,” Subho Ray, President, IAMAI said in the letter. IAMAI urged the minister to postpone the discussion on abolition of the service provider system of IRCTC considering the current situation around coronavirus which requires social distancing.

The Golden Chariot is all set to restart its operations from 22nd March, after almost a two-year break. The train completed a decade’s run in 2018. The marketing and operations of the luxury train was given to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in November 2019 after the KSTDC signed an agreement. The train was discontinued temporarily in 2018 after the Government took note of the ₹41 crore losses the train had incurred. The train would run three tours – two existing routes, and a third one – a short trip of three nights. The next season onwards from October, the train will start running all three – Pride of Karnataka, Southern Splendour, and a third new route of four days and three nights that covers Bengaluru, Mysuru, Bandipur, Chikkamagaluru, Hampi and back. Badami and Goa have been excluded. This tour is aimed at giving the chariot experience to more people at a reduced cost. The train has gone through a refurbishment both in external design as well as in interiors. IRCTC will be launching publicity of the train in the upcoming ITB Berlin.

IRCTC has partnered with Bharti AXA General insurance company to provide free-of-cost travel insurance to customers who book air tickets through the IRCTC’s air ticketing website. IRCTC Air is set to offer free air travel insurance worth up to Rs 50 lakh for the customers. It is a first-of-its-kind initiative and the travel insurance will provide passengers with financial protection against accidental deaths as well as total permanent disability, according to a statement by IRCTC. The premium for the insurance will be borne by IRCTC to secure the passengers from any untoward incident during any journey. The aim behind this partnership is to make air travel hassle-free. The travel insurance cover will be for both one-way trips and round trips of air travel, when booked on the IRCTC air ticketing portal.

Train travel remains the preferred means for long-distance travel for majority of Indians. Increase in the demand for passenger trains is supported by urbanisation, improving income standards. According to a recent report by India Brand Equity Foundation, passenger traffic in the country increased to 8.29 billion during FY18 and is further expected to advance to 15.20 billion by FY20. Besides, passenger traffic during April-May 2018 stood at 1,380.63 million. In May 2018, IRCTC introduced Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme (ATAS) which aims at providing confirmed berths in alternate trains to waitlisted passengers. The scheme is expected to improve passenger experience.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be reducing the prices of luxury trains, informs Sarab Jit Singh, MD, Travelite (India) who recently attended IRCTC’s 1st Tourism Interactive Session with Travel Trade Partners and Associations. Singh informs that Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Indian Railway Board, had a meeting with the major stakeholders in the travel trade, where he revealed this news. “Mr. Lohani is looking at rationalising the rates of luxury trains, which are extremely high at the moment. They will be starting the lowering down of rates with Maharaja Express. This is the first ever meeting by anybody from Railways with the travel trade. They had taken all notes and they will be taking necessary action which will benefit both tourism industry and railway board. It’s a very positive sign and we are very hopeful with Mr. Lohani taking such initiatives,” informed Singh.

The Indian Railway PSU, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to start two new circuits of their flagship luxury train Maharajas’ Express, this year. These two new trips have been named as ‘Southern Sojourn’ and ‘Southern Jewels’ which will cover prominent destinations in West and South India. The Southern Sojourn will cover Goa, Hampi, Mysore, Ernakulam, Kumarakom and Trivandrum. The Southern Jewels will cover Chettinad, Mahabalipuram, Mysore, Hampi and Goa. Though the regular trip of these two new journeys will take place in September 2017 for this year, however two new tour circuits with a view to cater especially to domestic travellers are being planned during monsoon period of June-July 2017. The Southern Sojourn-Monsoon Special shall start from Mumbai on June 24, 2017, & stop at Goa, Hampi, Mysore, Cochin, Alleppey before terminating at Trivandrum. The Southern Jewels-Monsoon Special shall depart from Trivandrum on July 1, 2017, and terminate at Mumbai covering Chettinad, Mahabalipuram, Mysore, Hampi and Goa. Each journey shall be of 8 Days/7 Nights duration. The regular trip of Southern Sojourn will start from Mumbai on Sep 9, 2017, and Southern Jewels will start from Trivandrum on Sep 16, 2017. In addition to visits to monuments and sight-seeing at each destination under these trips, the guests shall have an opportunity to enjoy traditional cultural performances at Cochin, visit a Coir Factory and enjoy a cruise with lunch at Alleppey, savour traditional Chettinad Cuisine demo and much more on these fabulous journeys. Tariff in Indian Rupees has been introduced for the Monsoon Special itineraries. Lucrative offers to attract domestic travellers have also been planned. On the booking of first adult on twin sharing at full cost, …

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting Budget 2017-18 announced that the government will establish five special tourism zones in the next financial year. “Tourism is a big employment generator and has a multiplier impact on the economy. Five special tourism zones anchored on SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) will be set up in partnership with the states,” Jaitley said on Wednesday. Other key takeaways for the tourism industry with respect to the Railway Budget are dedicated tourism/pilgrimage trains, 500 stations to be made differently-abled friendly, Coach Mitra facility to be introduced and bio-toilets for all coaches by 2019, offer competitive ticket-booking facility and no service charge for tickets booked on IRCTC, and new metro rail policy to be announced soon. In a boost to infrastructure development, Jaitley announced allocation of Rs 64,000 crore for national highways. He also announced Rs 2 trillion for transport sector. Jaitley has also announced that Head Post Offices will now be used as the front office for passport services.