Railway Ministry announces 'Bharat Gaurav Trains' to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage

Union Minister of Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw, recently announced the introduction of theme-based tourist circuit trains Bharat Gaurav Trains which will help boost tourism in India and promote the cultures and traditions of the country.

Sharing more details media at the press conference, he said that these trains will help realise the vision of PM Narendra Modi, i.e. to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world. He further added that the core strength of the professionals of tourism sector would be leveraged to develop/identify tourist circuits and run theme- based trains to tap the vast tourism potential of India.

Several points were discussed at the recently held event.    

Press Conference on ‘Bharat Gaurav’ trains. https://t.co/giyAOjpya3

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) November 23, 2021

As per reports, the service provider would be free to decide theme like Guru Kripa trains for covering important places of Sikh culture, Ramayana trains for places connected with Lord Shri Ram. Moreover, the provider can decide to offer all inclusive package to tourist including rail travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing arrangement, visit to historical/heritage sites, tour guides etc. Full flexibility to make the decision will be given to plan the package cost based on level of services being offered.

Besides this, the choice of coaches suiting the clientele, different segments like luxury, budget etc. along with the design and furniture for the interior of the coaches can be based on the theme, and can be decided by the service provider. The trains can include branding and advertisement and permissions have been given for the same, both inside and outside of the train. 

The train composition will consist of 14 to 20 coaches including 2 SLRs(Guard Vans)

Applications are being sought for service providers and an easy one step transparent online registration process has been planned. Interested parties will have to submit a registration fee of INR one lakh. Officials have informed that the allotment of coaches to all eligible applicants will be subject to availability and priority to be based on the Rake Security Deposit Time and Date. The Rake Security Deposit will be of INR one crore per rake.

The applications can be submitted by individuals, partnership firm, companies, societies, trust, JV/Consortium, etc. The Right to Use charges and Haulage charges notified in the policy for Service Provider to work out his business model and the Right to Use period will be from two to 10 years. 

Moreover customer support units will have to be made functional in the field for hand holding the service provider and for smooth implementation of this scheme.