In a bid to increase occupancy of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express, the Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation on Tuesday announced tour packages between Mumbai and Vadodara-Ahmedabad in Gujarat.
Addressing a press conference here, Rahul Himalian, group general manager of IRCTC’s west zone said rates of these packages, likely to be launched in December, had not been fixed as yet, but it could approximately be ₹2000 per person per day.
“The travel includes optional tourist itineraries of 3 nights/4 days and 4 nights/5 days covering historical, cultural and exotic destinations in and around Vadodara and Ahmedabad with the Statue of Unity in Kevadia as one of the main attractions,” he said.
“Passengers can travel on board the Tejas Express and explore Vadodara and Ahmedabad from Mumbai. Similar packages for Mumbai for passengers traveling from Gujarat are also being prepared by IRCTC. These tours will have accommodation in three or four star hotels and vehicles for sightseeing,” he added.
After remaining suspended for almost seven months due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express resumed operations from October 17.
However, Himalian said, occupancy of the train, which has 736 seats, was at just 25 to 40 per cent as against 50-80% before the outbreak.
Railway authorities have already announced trip cancellation on select Tuesdays in the current fiscal due to low patronage.
Currently, only 60 per cent seats are available for booking in order to adhere to social distancing and other COVID-19 norms, officials pointed out.
