West Central Railway has turned an old train coach into a lavish restaurant at Madhya Pradesh’s Jabalpur Station. As per the department, the restaurant is likely to earn a revenue of Rs. 13 lakh annually under non-fare revenue. This creative idea was first introduced by Eastern Railway. In 2022, it turned an old railway coach at Asansol station in West Bengal into a restaurant.
Jabalpur is also the headquarter of the West Central Railways (WCR), which is one of the 18 zones of the Indian Railways. The coach restaurant is nearly completed and is expected to open soon to offer satiating meals with a fine dining experience to weary travelers near platform number 6 of Jabalpur railway station.
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It is a first-of-its-kind initiative and is being promoted with an aim to raise non-fare revenue. Six other stations under the WCR will also launch unique restaurants inside refurbished coaches.
Rajesh Dutt Bajpai, executive director (I&P) of Indian Railways said that the department has given liberty to the private contractors to take unused railway coaches on contract for five years and refurbish them into stunning restaurants on wheels. He also said that the railways will realise the license fee from the party that takes the coach on contract for refurbishing.
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Chief spokesperson of West Central Railway, Rahul Jaipuriayar, said that about 95 percent of refurbishing work at Jabalpur station has been completed by the party allowed to run such an establishment. He also revealed that the railway will get about Rs. 3.3 crore in the next five years from seven such restaurants that will be set up under the Bhopal and Jabalpur divisions of WCR.
Via: New Indian Express