IRCTC to set up 20 'Rail Ratna' hotels

Kochi, Apr 27 (UNI) The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would set up 20 'Rail Ratna' brand budget hotels in the Southern States, IRCTC Southern Region Manager K P Damodaran said today.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Damodaran said sites had already been awarded for the hotels at Ooty, Kanniyakumari, Madurai and Rameshwaram.

Land would be handed over at Chennai Central, Trivandrum Central, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Calicut, Coimbatore and Mangalore for more hotels, he said.

Mr Damodaran said since the take over in November 2005, the IRCTC had set up 13 modern food plazas at major stations including Tiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Chennai and Bangalore.

Ten more food courts were being planned at Kollam, Kottayam, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Erode and Tirunelvelli.

To provide hygienic and wholesome food to railway passengers and visitors to the stations, major base kitchens would be set up at Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Erode, Madurai and Chennai, he said.

Denying reports that South Indian dishes were being taken off, he said the railway menu was being streamlined and popular south Indian dishes would be a part of it.

Seventy multi-purpose catering stalls had been tendered in Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam region. The railways were also providing 'Janata Meals' at Rs ten at several stations in the country.

Stating the IRCTC had recently been told to streamline the supply of bedrolls in AC coaches, Mr Damodaran said that it was in the process of setting up laundrettes at Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Chennai and Bangalore to provide clean and fresh bed linen.

The Corporation was also offering attractive tour packages to hill stations like Ooty, Kodaikanal and Munnar from Chennai and Bangalore, he said.

UNI