Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article appears to be written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by rewriting promotional content from a neutral point of view and removing any inappropriate external links. (January 2012)
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Cooperative
Type Subsidiary of the Indian Railways
Industry Railways
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Area served India
Services Catering, Tourism and Online Ticketing
Parent Indian Railways
Website IRCTC website

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways.

Contents

[edit] Services

[edit] Catering

As per new Railway Catering Policy 2010(Introduced by Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee) Catering services provided by IRCTC were handed over to INDIAN Railways. Now IRCTC is in charge of catering services on Few trains such as All Duranto Exp, Frakkha Exp, Maitree Express( Train between INDIA and BANGLADESH),Kandhari Exp and some Rajdhani Exp rest all of train operated by Zonal Railways railway stations across India. However IRCTC still operate Janaahar at railway station. IRCTC also started NRC project(NON RAILWAY CATERING) under which cafeteria were operated in many Indian Ministries and Institutes.

[edit] Online ticketing

IRCTC is better known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India. It pioneered Internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via GPRS or SMS. Ticket cancellations or modifications can also be done online. In addition to E-tickets, IRCTC also offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post. The Tickets PNR Status is also made available here recently.

Commuters on Mumbai's suburban railway can also book season tickets through the IRCTC website.

IRCTC has also recently launched a loyalty program called "Shubh Yatra" for frequent travellers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.[1]

IRCTC has also launched flights and hotels booking facilities which added to their line of online reservation services.[2]

[edit] Tourism

IRCTC also organizes budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism package for budget tourists covering important tourist destination across India is Bharat Darshan.[3] Luxury tourism packages are also available, that involve special luxury trains such as:

and IRCTC is a partner in the Maharajas’ Express operation.[4]

One may log on to railtourismindia.com.[5] and book Rail Tour Package, Holiday Package, Hotels, Cabs, Tourist Trains online.

Apart from conventional tourism, IRCTC also offers adventure tourism packages that include water sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customising tours as per specific requirements is also an added attraction.

[edit] Awards and achievements

Within a short span of its going online, the IRCTC website had become the largest and the fastest growing e-commerce website in the Asia-Pacific region, with about six lakh registered users in 2003.[6]

Some of the other awards won by IRCTC are:

  • Awarded the National Award for E-Governance, 2007-08 jointly by Department of IT, Govt. of India and Govt. of Haryana.
  • Awarded the Genius of the Web Award 2007 for being the "Best E-Governance PSU Site" by CNBC.
  • Won National award for E-Governance for being "Best Citizen Centric Application" for the year 2007-08.
  • IRCTC Tourism Unit declared winner for the category Most Innovative Product in Travel and Tourism Fair of India (TTF & OTM 2007) held in Mumbai from 10 to 12 February 2007.
  • Won CSI-Nihilent E-Governance award for "Best E-Governance Project" in 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Shubh Yatra loyalty program
  2. ^ IRCTC
  3. ^ Bharat Darshan
  4. ^ Gupta, Jayanta (2010-03-19). "Rs 1 lakh a night on Maharajas’ Express". Times of India. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Rs-1-lakh-a-night-on-Maharajas-Express/articleshow/5700045.cms. Retrieved 2010-04-06. 
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "At your doorstep". The Hindu. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2003/12/31/stories/2003123100020100.htm. [dead link]

[edit] External links

Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2 This Indian rail transport related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Administration
Zones
Network
Services
See also
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Indian_Railway_Catering_and_Tourism_Corporation&oldid=472229491"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Interaction
Toolbox
Print/export
Languages