E-Paper
Revive pantry coaches in all express trains, pax demand after seeing Bharat Gaurav train in Pune
At a time when pantry coaches in regular express trains have been discontinued, the railway has attached a pantry coach to the ‘Puri-Ganga Sagar Divya Kashi Yatra’ Bharat Gaurav tourist train departing from Pune railway station today to cover important religious destinations in Puri, Kolkata, Gaya, Varanasi and Prayagraj
At a time when pantry coaches in regular express trains have been discontinued, the railway has attached a pantry coach to the ‘Puri-Ganga Sagar Divya Kashi Yatra’ Bharat Gaurav tourist train departing from Pune railway station today to cover important religious destinations in Puri, Kolkata, Gaya, Varanasi and Prayagraj. This has led to clamour among other passengers for restarting pantry coaches in other express trains as well.
The railway has been operating Bharat Gaurav tourist trains from different parts of the country to promote the tourism concepts of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ and ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and showcase India as a destination amongst domestic and international travellers. According to the railway, the ‘Puri-Ganga Sagar Divya Kashi Yatra’ Bharat Gaurav tourist train departing from Pune railway station today is booked to its full capacity of 750 seats. Over the course of nine nights and 10 days, the tourists will get to visit famous temples and pilgrimage places such as the Jagannath Puri Temple, Konark Temple and Lingraj Temple at Puri; Kali Bari and Ganga Sagar in and around Kolkata; Vishnu Pad Temple and Bodh Gaya at Gaya; Kashi-Vishwanath Temple and Ganga Ghat at Varanasi; and Triveni Sangam at Prayagraj.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which is the professional tourism and hospitality arm of the Indian railway, is offering this tour which includes a comfortable rail journey in the exclusive LHB rake of the Bharat Gaurav tourist train, on-board and off-board meals, road transfers and sightseeing in quality buses, accommodation as per the itinerary, tour guide services, travel insurance, on-board security and housekeeping, and on-board entertainment activities planned for the tourists. The Bharat Gaurav tourist train has seven sleeper-class coaches, three air-conditioned three-tier coaches, and one air-conditioned two-tier coach. The tour package is being offered across three categories namely economy, comfort and deluxe, and a majority of the 750 passengers are booked in the economy segment standard category.
Significantly, the railway has attached a pantry coach to this train for the benefit of the passengers so that they can be served freshly-cooked meals. This has led to clamour among other passengers for restarting the pantry coaches in other express trains as well. Especially in long-distance trains such as the Deccan Queen Express, passengers are now served meals cooked outside by vendors. The pantry coaches in these trains were discontinued a couple of years ago claiming that the pantry coaches can catch fire.
Ramesh Chavan, a frequent passenger, said, “I regularly travel by Deccan Queen from Pune to Mumbai and the meals given to passengers are not so good nowadays. Many a time, they are not hot and the quality is not good. Earlier when there was a pantry coach, the food was prepared fresh and passengers used to enjoy it.”
While Harsha Shah, president of the Railway Pravasi Group, said, “There is no proof of any such incident having occurred in any of the trains across the country wherein the pantry coach caught fire due to gas cylinders or any other materials in the coach. Suddenly, the railway closed down the pantry coaches and passengers have had to eat bad quality food prepared by vendors, especially on long-distance trains. Our demand is that the pantry coaches be resumed in all trains.”
