The revenue for two of the luxury trains – Palace of Wheels and Royal Rajasthan – which are operated by both Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism, have reportedly declined by more than 24 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.
To help the common man, railways might cut the ticket prices of luxury trains including the Maharaja Express by 50 per cent.
According to the media reports, prices of trains like Maharaja Express, palace on the wheels and Golden Chariot are not in reach of an average salaried man, considering which the Indian Railways are planning to cut the ticket prices in half, that are currently borne by state tourism departments and stakeholders like IRCTC.
It is also to be noted that the Railways might took this step after reportedly witnessing a sharp decline in the interest of foreign travellers in luxury trains.
The revenue for two of the luxury trains – Palace of Wheels and Royal Rajasthan – which are operated by both Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism, have reportedly declined by more than 24 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.
The policy on these train was taken up for review by Railway Board on March 1 wherein the decision to cut haulage charges by 50 per cent was taken.
Meanwhile, railway stations across Indian Railways are set to undergo a major revamp, of which the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) will also be a part. This is a joint venture undertaken by MRVC and Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation Limited (IRSDC).
IRSDC is expecting interested architects, firms and contractors to come forward by March 9. Sources said that they will prepare the concept plan for at least six stations wherein they will go for overall transit oriented development in line with archaeology, heritage value and other factors.
Sources said that the contractors and firms will have to submit names of stations, their category, railway zone and their state. 600 stations will undergo redevelopment and, in the first phase, at least 17 stations across the country and three stations in Mumbai will be redeveloped.
"The basic concept plan for these railway stations will be made available to us before 12 April," said a senior official. Sources said that three stations likely to be revamped in the city are Mumbai Central, Bandra Terminus and Dadar. "The station improvement in Mumbai is expected to cost around Rs 947 crore. We are finalising stations," said R Khurana, chairman and MD, MRVC.
The railways are also conducting aerial surveys using drones. One such survey was done at Elphinstone Road-Parel. Sources said that here an elevated deck will be created that would inter-connect FOBs in line of stations like Borivali and Andheri. Architects have shown interest in redeveloping Dadar, Parel, Wadala, Bandra and Khar stations.
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 "Good news: Railways may cut ticket prices of luxury trains by 50%")
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