The Indian Railways will introduce its first coach with a glass ceiling in October in an attempt to attract tourists from within the country and abroad. While the first such coach will be rolled out this month, three more will hit the tracks in December. A regular train running through the Kashmir Valley will get the pilot coach, PTI reported.
IRCTC chairman and managing director, Dr AK Manocha, said, “The basic objective behind such a project is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from both India and abroad.” The coaches were designed and developed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, and Research Designs and Standards Organisation, along with Integral Coach Factory in Perambur, Tamil Nadu. The project started in 2015. Each coach costs Rs 4 crore and has "rotatable chairs to provide the passengers an aerial view through partly glass ceiling”.
Manocha said the other coaches will be part of a train running through the Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh. “There are some trains with glass ceilings in foreign countries, like Switzerland, which enjoy the patronage of tourists. We believe such coaches will also give a fillip to rail tourism in India,” he said.
Suresh Prabhu (pictured above) is the current Railway Minister, under whom several new projects for the railways have been planned.
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