STEAM LOCOS ON
HILL RAILWAYS TO BOOST TOURISM – BANDARU
DATTATRAYA
NATIONAL
CONFERENCE ON STEAM HERITAGE TOURISM INAUGURATED
Ministry of Railways
has decided to introduce steam locomotives on all hill railways
and on various tourism circuits with the support of Ministry of
Tourism, to give further fillip to rail tourism, said Minister
of state for Railways Shri Bhandaru Dattatraya here today. Addressing
the one-day National Conference on Steam Heritage Tourism organized
here by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) with the
support of Department of Tourism and Ministry of Railways, Shri
Dattatraya said that steam heritage tourism has tremendous potential
to attract both domestic and international tourists. Stating that
Ministry of Railways is very keen on preserving the rich heritage
of steam locos, the Minister said that recently Indian Railways
has dedicated to the Nation a heritage steam locomotive shed at
Rewari, Haryana. The shed will preserve working steam locos for
heritage and tourism.
Elaborating on the
initiatives taken by Indian Railways to step up tourism especially
steam heritage tourism, the Minister of State for Railways stated
that launching of Fairy Queen Express in 1997 has been a major
achievement in this field. Built in 1955, Fairy Queen is the oldest
working steam loco in the world, he added. National Rail Museum,
the focus of India’s rail heritage is constantly engaged in preserving
and propagating the rich steam heritage of Indian Railways, the
Minister said. Calling upon the Ministry of Tourism in packaging
and promoting steam trains, Shri Bandaru said that the unique
charm of steam locos will give the right fillip to tourism in
our country.
Earlier, addressing
the Conference, Minister of State for Tourism and Culture, Shri
Vinod Khanna opined that the steam heritage tourism, to be promoted
in a big way jointly by his Ministry and Railways will be attracting
a lot of tourists from within the country and abroad. A three-day
Photo Exhibition on steam locos has also been inaugurated as part
of the Conference.
Welcoming the participants,
Chairman cum Managing Director, ITDC Shri Ashwani Lohani said
that the aim of the Conference is to create awareness about its
unique high potential tourism segment. Stating that United Kingdom
is the undisputed leader in Steam Heritage Tourism, Shri Lohani
opined that India has a vast potential in this area. Shri Dasarathy,
Member Mechanical, Railway Board who also spoke on the inaugural
session said that efforts are on to manufacture steam locos using
oil as fuel in place of coal.
