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An upcoming coach restaurant at Charbagh railway station in Uttar Pradesh. (photo: News18)
Officials at North Eastern Railways (NER), a region of the IR, said the entire shift exercise is part of an unpaid revenue opportunity under which the IR is giving its convict coaches a lease on private players for 3-5 years.
Apart from experiencing world-class amenities, people visiting major railway stations in Uttar Pradesh can now also experience fine dining as Indian Railways (IR) plans to lease out decommissioned and neglected train coaches to restaurateurs and hoteliers, Which gives them freedom around them.
Officials at North Eastern Railways (NER), a region of the IR, said the entire shift exercise is part of an unpaid revenue opportunity under which the IR is giving its convict coaches a lease on private players for 3-5 years.
These coaches will be located outside the station building, IR officials said, and the change will reflect the local culture and art forms of those regions, and the need to promote them.
“It is a unique move, I think, and having a fine dining experience in a railway coach will really give a whole new experience to people. Riyaz Rashid Khan, one of the tenants of three upcoming bus restaurants in Gomti Nagar, Gorakhpur and Siddhuli (Sitapur) said,” A good majority of people are open to such unique and unfamiliar experiences.”
Khan said the transformation work is in full swing. One of the buses will be stationed at the Gomti Nagar Railway Station in Lucknow, one of the buses will be in Gorakhpur and another two coaches will remain at the Siddhuli Center in Sitapur. “One of the dishes that will remain Gomti Nagar-centric will serve the best of Awadhi cuisine including Nihari Kulcha, Awadi Biryani, Pasanda, Shahi Tukda, Gelati Kebabs and other Mughlai cuisine in order to satiate the taste buds of food connoisseurs,” said Khan. Sharing his plans for his next project.
Unlike the bus restaurant at Gomti Nagar which will be designed in Nawabi era architecture, people who visit one in Gorakhpur will have a glimpse of the Gorakhnath temple and the two at Sidhauli will be a representation of Naimisharanya. “Gorakhpur will only serve vegetarian food and one out of two coaches will serve vegetarian and non-vegetarian food in Siddhuli,” he added.
Similar to these, two bus restaurants are already operating at NER’s Izzatnagar station in Bareilly and one in Varanasi district, while several state stations like Lucknow’s Charbagh Station, Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar Station, Sitapur’s Sidhauli (Sitapur), Gorakhpur’s Gorakhpur Junction , Varanasi City Station Varanasi, Varanasi Junction Varanasi, Agra Station Kent Agra, and in Jhansi will appear in 1-2 months.
Open Air Railway Museum in Agra Cantt
Similarly, the Agra Cantt North Central Railway (NCR) station is a bit ahead of the others and has big plans to not only build a bus restaurant but also build a 20,000 sq ft open air railway museum. “We have offered a coach restaurant to Hilton on a five year lease that will serve fine dining to people. While the open air museum (Railway Heritage Park) will display old equipment that is now outdated such as old signs, old tickets and Level gates Ancient Crossing and etc. Prashasti Srivastava, Commercial Director, Agra Railway Department, said: We collect such vintage items from all over UP.
She further said that the project will help the railways to earn Rs 85 lakh in five years.
Unlike other bus restaurants that will be popping up in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, the bus restaurant in Agra will not only serve pita- the local sweets but also the forgotten transitional treats. Of the two buses that will remain in Agra, one bus, which can occupy 35 people at a time, will serve vegetarian food while the other will serve non-vegetarian food. In order to promote the local food, the Rail Heritage-cum-Food on Wheels garden in Agra Cantt has associated with a 150-year-old Pracheen Petha who will offer various forms of healthy and herbal pita. Similarly, the popular Agra chat will also be introduced, Dipak Sharma, the project’s tenant, said.
He added, “We are planning to offer Kareem Kebab Agra which was served to Queen Victoria but was forgotten with the passage of time.”
Sharing further plans, he said a joint information center for tourism and passenger railways will be set up.
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