Package for DHR

Darjeeling, Nov. 3: In a bid to bring in more tourists and make the journey on the toy train more attractive, the parliamentary standing committee on railways has recommended a tour package for the DHR.

The panel also wants the railway authorities to organise tours and set up budget hotels. Jagmohan, the former Union tourism minister, too, had spoken on the same lines, stressing on the need to develop tourist spots within a radius of 10 km to 15 km from the rail route.

Basudeb Acharya, the chairman of the committee, said: `We would want the railway to set up budget hotels in Darjeeling and places like Kurseong and come up with attractive packages.` The standing committee, which left Darjeeling today after inspecting the DHR, said the railway should work closely with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to work out the package.

IRCTC is a government of India enterprise which, apart from taking care of catering services in the railways, has also started food courts in many stations.

Earlier, Jagmohan had also recommended the introduction of the concepts of the overnight halts, which could be feasible if the railway came up with its own budget hotels.

Efforts are being made to make the train service, which was the sole carrier of the hill people in 1880, more attractive, as the narrow-gauge beauty is slowly losing out to faster modes of transport from the plains to the hills. `We would at least want the DHR to break-even, if not rake in profits,` Acharya said. The DHR has been running up losses of Rs 10 crore annually. `We have suggested that the NFR take up the issue of encroachment with the DGHC and the government,` said Acharya.

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