Slowdown hits rail tourism in north India

Rail tourism appears to have been adversely impacted by the ongoing economic crisis as Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has seen 30-40 per cent decline in passenger traffic to tourist and pilgrim destinations during the past few months.

"We have found a dip in the range of 30-40 per cent in passenger traffic mainly originating from Mumbai, Kolkata and other major places for tourist and religious places of the northern region because of the economic meltdown," IRCTC Chief Regional Manager (Chandigarh Region) Aneet Dulat said here.

The Chandigarh region of IRCTC handles Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Haryana.

Dulat said after the economic slowdown started, passenger traffic has declined, although it is difficult to arrive at a figure.

"Earlier, we used to witness a huge number of people from Mumbai and Kolkata visiting Mata Vaishno Devi in Jammu and tourist places in Shimla but this time the situation has changed," he said.

On IRCTC's new initiatives to boost tourism, Dulat said, "We have plans to start the Volvo bus service from Chandigarh to Rishikesh, Haridwar and Vaishno Devi by March."

"(Facilities like) Lodging in four-star hotels (and) picking up from home would be provided at a reasonable cost," he added.

Besides, the railways have plans to launch customised packages for passengers from Chandigarh to Kerala and Jaipur this year. "We are in talks with the tourism boards of (Rajasthan and Kerala) to start this service in order to boost tourist traffic," he said.

On the issue of setting up budget hotels, Dulat said, "We are awaiting approval from the Railway Board ... (after permission comes) work on budget hotels at proposed locations would start."