Goan Holiday

The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a rail ministry PSU, has started a novel scheme: giving corporates the choice of chartering special trains to take employees on a holiday. The L&T’s construction division has been first off the block. A train with nine sleeper-class coaches left Chennai for Vasco, Goa, on October 1. It will come back on October 4. The charter service cost the company Rs 9 lakh and will carry over 500 passengers for the holiday in Goa. This is the first time the IRCTC has begun to promote the concept of holiday trains for business houses. According to an IRCTC official, such holidaying increases bonding between the staff of a company and their families. The IRCTC is confident that more trains will be chartered.