The Railways is about to start another innovative experiment designed to woo business travelers.
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The plan is to attach an extra coach on the Bangalore- Chennai- Bangalore Shatabdi Express that will have all the facilities offered by any good business centre.
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Called the βmobile office on trackβ, the coach will have GPS/GPRS connectivity, phones, WiFi connectivity for internet, LCD monitors, projectors, microphones and a satellite radio.
There will even be a small pantry.
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The initiative is to be managed by a private party.
South Western Railway has called for bids for the project, and hopes to have it going in the next three months.
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The reserve price per annum is Rs 3.57 crore, which Anwar Hussain, senior commercial manager of the Bangalore division, says is the amount the Railways would have earned if the AC chair car coach were to run at full capacity.
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The private party that wins the bid can charge for the services offered and will also be allowed to brand the outer panels of the coach with their corporate logo.
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The Bangalore-Chennai route is a particularly good stretch for such an experiment.
Most business travellers between the two cities have abandoned the air route on account of the long distance between Bangalore city and its new international airport.
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The time taken to fly, including the time taken to reach the airport and the airport waiting time, is not very different from the time taken by rail or road.
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Many are now using the road route.
A βcorporate coachβ on the train route can potentially attract people who now use the road and the few who continue to fly.
If the initiative is successful, the Railways would try to replicate it on other trains and try to get even air travellers to move to trains.
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He is hoping that travel management companies like American Express Travel, Thomas Cook or Sita Travels will take up the project.
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Railways had previously introduced the βbrand trainβ concept that allowed corporates to brand the train in return for offering cleaning and other services inside the train.
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The first of these was the βKurkure Expressβ.
The scheme was later extended to other trains.
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