Tag Archives: IRCTC

P.P. Khanna, President, ADTOI, says, “The Union Budget didn’t directly focus on tourism, but was more directed at the rural sector, youth and infrastructure. However, there was a mention of the Global Incredible India campaign. Also, the proposal of developing India International Institutes for foreign languages would really benefit the tourism industry, and would offer employment to almost 1 lakh students graduating from these institutes every year. The dedication towards Clean India and Skill India would also result in a boost to tourism and creating employment in this sector, and boosting domestic tourism.” He highlighted another positive which is the waiving off of Service Charge on IRCTC bookings. “The focus on rural tourism might lead to better infrastructure and education in these areas, which in turn would help bring tourists to these areas as well. However, the effect of all these things would only be seen in three to five years.”

The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has launched a new logo with a tagline “The Way Forward” at The Ashok New Delhi. The new TAFI logo was unveiled by Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism Govt. of India along with Dr. A.K. Manocha, Chairman & Managing Director, IRCTC, in the presence of TAFI President Praveen Chugh, TAFI Immediate Past President Zakkir Ahmed, Vice President Pradip Lulla, National General Secretary Aditi Bhende, Managing Committee Member and Convention Chairman Bharat Shah and Managing Committee member Teddy Thomas among others.

Starting December, Indian Railways plans to test-run three luxury coaches with glass ceilings, one on a route in the Kashmir valley and the other two in the Araku Valley in South India. In a bid to attract wealthy tourists, the coaches will have chairs that can rotate, have extra leg space and high-tech infotainment systems, informed A.K. Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). “There are some trains with glass ceiling(s) in foreign countries like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India,” Manocha said. The move is a part of the government’s attempt to revamp the massive transport system. Dham Ghaj Prasad, Group General Manager, IRCTC explained the coaches with glass top ceiling would be the first of its type in India. “Work on the project started in 2015 with a series of meetings on the specification of the coach design. The first such coach is all set to roll out this month (October) itself. The coaches will be ultra luxurious with rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling,” he elaborated. Estimated at Rs 4 crore per glass-topped coach, the project spending is estimated around $17 billion (Rs1.21 lakh crore) this fiscal towards this revamp. The Indian Railways this year also announced plans to offer wi-fi hotspots at 100 stations and improve its services via smartphone apps.

Paytm has partnered with Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that will allow Paytm users to book train tickets online on Paytm’s App and website. The flights booking service on Paytm has been growing at 4x rate month-on-month since its launch in May. In line with its vision to build the country’s largest travel booking destination, the company has now launched online train ticket bookings in partnership with IRCTC. Speaking on the partnership, Abhishek Rajan, Vice President, Paytm said, “At Paytm, our endeavor is to solve for every need of a traveller. Our alliance with IRCTC is a major leap as it completes the spectrum of air, road and rail ticket booking solutions available on Paytm. This is a significant milestone in our efforts to build India’s largest travel marketplace.” The Indian travel market has seen exponential growth over the past many years. The Indian travel market is estimated to be worth $40 billion by 2020, according to an IBEF study. Paytm is determined to leverage the power of mobile to fuel this growth.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has tied up with OYO Rooms to offer standardised accommodation and a convenient booking platform to rail travellers. OYO Rooms will power the IRCTC hotel-booking page, offering their inventory and promise of standardizsd amenities to Rail passengers. Speaking on the tie-up, CMD, IRCTC Dr. A.K.Manocha said, “We are committed to drive efficiencies and enhance our service through innovation. OYO Rooms has propelled the hotel market in India towards new horizon and pioneered the standardisation of affordable hotel-rooms. This partnership contributes another chapter to the successful narrative of Made in India initiatives and how tech-enabled solutions will power the next wave of innovation. We have made the necessary technology integrations and will be actively communicating about this newly available option through e-mailers, information on e-tickets so that our travellers can explore and utilise these services.” Abhinav Sinha, COO OYO Rooms said, “We are honoured and delighted to power the hotels-booking engine of IRCTC and serve Indian railway passengers. With this tie-up IRCTC customers will have ready access to OYO’s inventory of predictable, standardised and affordable hotel accommodation, across 170 cities in India. As India’s widest and largest network, we feel confident of catering to the passengers’ needs and look forward to making this alliance a great success.” He added, “OYO Rooms was conceived with a vision to change the way travellers view out-of-home stay. Our aim is to deliver home-like comfort at affordable prices so that wherever you may be travelling to, you would want to stay at an OYO booked through IRCTC-OYO network. The first step towards fulfilling this mandate was to expand our footprint to provide the comfort of a wide network. …

Starting February 15, an individual user will be able to book online a maximum of 6 tickets in a month on IRCTC website. This will replace the existing system under which a maximum of 10 tickets can be booked online through IRCTC website in a month by an individual. However, the existing condition will continue wherein these booking will be subject to a limit of booking two opening Tatkal tickets in 10:00- 12:00 hours period in a day and two opening Advance Reservation Period (ARP) tickets in 08:00-10:00 hours period in a day. This has been done keeping in view the analysis of usage of quota of 10 tickets which indicated that 90 per cent of users are booking upto 6 tickets in a given month and only 10 per cent are making more than 6 tickets. It is suspected that the 10 per cent users might be involved in touting activities. Therefore, to deter such touts and to facilitate genuine users, it has been decided that a maximum of 6 tickets can be booked by an individual user in a month.

The Ministry of Railways has announced a number of measures on the IRCTC website. “Now, a 35-second compulsory wait has been applied before booking an online ticket to prevent faster booking through any other unscrupulous means,” said A.K. Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director, IRCTC, at a combined conference. Sanjaya Das, MD, CRIS, U. Hazarika, Executive Director, C&IS Railway Board and other senior officials from the railway board were present. Manocha said that due to increased demand of e-ticketing and capacity constraint, the Next Generation e-Ticketing (NGeT) System’s capacity to book tickets has been upgraded to book 15,000 tickets per minute. Furthermore, only two tatkal tickets can be booked for single user ID in opening tatkal hours from 10-12 hours. Statistics from the Ministry of Railways reveal that 18,30,21,842 tickets were booked online during 2014-2015. Among the total tickets booked, the share of internet ticketing passengers to total passengers travelled was 54.52 per cent. To further strengthen its Passenger Reservation System (PRS), the Ministry of Railways has taken various measures on the IRCTC website on the lines of internet ticketing, Next Generation e-Ticketing System (NGeT), scripting, and various other security measures to control hacking.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is offering an aerial view of Mumbai for 20 minutes at a cost of Rs 2,995 per person. IRCTC has tied up with private chopper company, Aman Aviation, which will use the US-made Robinson R-44 helicopter carrying three passengers at a time. To book a helicopter ride, passengers can log on to www.irctctourism.com. In the initial phase, the rides will be operated to facilitate an aerial view of the suburbs of east and south Mumbai. Helicopter rides for south Mumbai will likely be undertaken on Mondays and Thursdays whereas joy rides for east Mumbai will be available on any given day except Wednesday. Booking will be closed four days prior to departure of the flight. Thirty seats will be available every day.

Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in association with Goa Tourism Development  Corporation (GTDC) will have a special carnival charter coach from Mumbai during Goa Carnival with a GTDC tour package specially designed for passengers between February 6-9, 2016. This is part of the joint venture between the GTDC and the IRCTC to promote holiday special trains after the Railways Ministry approved the running of special holiday trains to Goa, and an MoU was signed between the two organisations. Bookings for travel on this train are online only. Passengers buying this package will get an opportunity to enjoy the four-day carnival. The Goa Carnival package of five nights and six days will include Standard Comfort and Deluxe priced between Rs 7,695 and 17,395 per pax.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to tie up with a string of self-help groups (SHGs) and include the famed culinary skills of Indian women to the food served on the country’s trains, in order to enhance its e-catering portfolio. The empanelled SHGs will be displayed on e-catering websites with their menu and prices. Passenger may choose meal or food items offered by SHGs and place the order. This will help in sustainable development of SHGs. “The proposed association with SHGs is part of our plan to empower women,” said IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director Dr AK Manocha. “The initiative aims to develop local communities and ensure all-inclusive growth,” he added. He noted that India has no less than one crore SHGs, mostly functioning in rural and semi-urban areas with 10 to 20 members (majority women) per group. “We plan to collaborate with some of them which are into making food items,” he added. “The finer points will evolve clear in the weeks to come.” Currently, IRCTC provides e-catering facility in all the trains passing through the most important 45 stations of Indian Railways. It also provides food to 1516 trains without pantry cars. The food is directly delivered by the vendor on the berth/ seat of the passenger. In its e-catering service which facilitates supply of food on ordering two hours before boarding the train, IRCTC is already in a collaboration with Foodpanda, KFC, Domino’s, Street Foods, Wimpy, TFS, Jan Aahar, Mio Amore, Alibaba, Cafe Lite, Hello Curry and Ratna Cafe besides IRCTC Food Plaza and IRCTC Fast Food Units. The e-catering facility allows passengers to have food of their choice at agreeable prices while travelling. …