The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corp (IRCTC) and Cox & Kings (C&K) have announced a 50:50 joint venture, Royale Indian Rail Tours Ltd
KOLKATA: The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corp (IRCTC) and Cox & Kings (C&K) have announced a 50:50 joint venture, Royale Indian Rail Tours Ltd. A deal was inked in Delhi on Wednesday.
This is the first public-private partnership (PPP) project to take off in the luxury train segment.
The JV will manage and operate the first pan-India super-luxury tourist train, scheduled to start operations in October 2009. Eventually, sources said, more products will be unveiled.
The JV aims to ride on IRCTC’s experience in rail-based tourism and C&K’s experience in international marketing.
C&K will leverage its overseas offices to market the product globally, while IRCTC will be involved in the operations, a C&K official told DNA Money over telephone from Delhi.
The train will traverse multiple states, showcasing India in totality.
The target segment is obviously the super-rich, and though price points are yet to be decided, a C&K official said these will be benchmarked against international super-luxury train rates — $750-1,000 per night.
An IRCTC official said over phone from Delhi that the train will be first among super-luxury trains in India to offer four different classes of passenger accommodation — deluxe suites, super deluxe suites, luxury suites and presidential suites. The presidential suite will occupy a whole carriage.
It will also be the first Indian train equipped with a state-of-the-art pneumatic and hydraulic suspension system, ensuring a smoother ride.
“There will also be microprocessor-based climatic control for all passenger cabins and an environment-friendly toilet system, again a first among Indian luxury trains,” the IRCTC official added.
Asked if this is the right time to launch a super-luxury product, the official said: “The project had already been in the pipeline and in any case, the first product will roll out only in the third quarter of 2009.”
Two itineraries have been devised. The first is the Princely Tour of India — a seven-night journey that will go Mumbai-Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Jaipur-Delhi.
The second is the Classical India tour — also a seven-night itinerary — covering Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Khajuraho-Varanasi-Patna.
While IRCTC is a public sector enterprise under the ministry of railways, C&K specialises in destination management, excursion and leisure travel among others.
m_madhumita@dnaindia.net
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