Documentation Update-June 2002 - Equitable Tourism Options

--, v ________'_. 1--.'-lDOCUMENJAllaQRnC23a Luxury Trains ... I. , ••. ".," " .,The Indian Ra ilway has indicated its willingness to co-operate with State LevelOrganisations to til ke up projects in the Tourism Sector in Kerala. The JointParticipation of state Governments and the Central Government through a RailInfrastructure Corporation will not only help in accelerating Railway Developmentbut also benefit the State in pinpointing their priori ty in executing the projects.(Rys offers to aid Kerala tourism, S Sa 1II1 11 dakll 111 a r, 3/1/01)Further to their collaboration with the Indian Ra ilways the Kerala TourismDepartment has already proposed five special rail-tour packages to the Board .The Project envisa ges a continuous link of backwaters and connecting rivers, alongwith artificial c,)nals. The plan was to go in for an international bid forimplementing the project and the State Government expected the Centre to supportit financially. The new packages aimed at exploiting the rail connectivity to theState, especially through the Konkan Railway network. (Kemla plans rail-tourpackages, BL, 14/1/(1)Maharastra has also been in ta lks with the Indian Railways to start as train on thelines of the Pabce on Wheels. A memorandum of understanding (MOU) has beensigned between the Railways and Maharastra Government under which theRailways would run the train and STDC would maintain the services on board.The luxury train should be ready to take off on its by October 2002. The broadgauge train, conSisting of 21 coaches and a diesel locomotive, will cover Mumbai,Ratnagiri, Sinshudurg, Goa, Pune and Aurangabad in seven days. (MaharastraPalace on wheels SOOl1, TOI, M, 17/2/01 >West Bengal is the third State on list that is planning to start a Luxury Tra in on thelines of the Palace on Wheels. The route would be to cover places connected withBuddhism. The Government has chalked out an Rs 475-cr-tourism master plan forthe purpose. They also plan to take up with the Railways Ministry themodernisation of the toy-train between Siliguri and Darjeeling. (Palace-on-wheelsfor Bengal, DH, 29/5/(1)The Railways have also agreed in principle with the Karnata ka State TourismDevelopment Corporation (KSTDC) to operate the Palace-on-Wheels in the State.This Project would most probably be operational within the next two years. Itwould link tourist destinations in North Karna taka such as Hampi, Badami, Aiholeand Pattadakallu, the coastal districts, Belur, Halebeedu, Shravanabelagola andMysore. The special train would start its journey from Bangalore to NorthKarnataka in its first leg. The second leg would be from North Karnataka tocoastal districts to enable tourists to visit beaches, pilgrim centres and exotic spotsin the Western Ghats. The third leg would be from Mangalore to Hassan fromwhere tourists would be taken to Belur, Halebeedu and Sharavanabelagola andthe final lap would be from Hassan to Mysore. (Palace-on-Wheels to be operated inState in two years, TH, 31/5/0)The CBI carried out a ra id on the first tour of the season of the Palace-on-Wheels.The operation termed as 'Flying Checking' was to check for passengers withoutproper tickets or permission to travel. The check was carried out in a detailedmanner. The cm found a number of passenger induding Government Officialsand Journalists without tickets, causing a loss of nearly Rs 80-lakhs to the Railways.(Nothing UllllSlWI about free ride 01/ 'Palacc-olJ-Wheels', DH, l1/9/0J)25