Travel News India
New high-speed train that can operate on the existing Delhi- Mumbai railway tracks
The Indian government is accelerating its plan to speed up the key Delhi-Mumbai railway line , by ordering a new high-speed train that can operate on the existing tracks .
The Economic Times reports that India is planning to acquire two trains from Spanish company Talgo , which will be able to cover the 1,384km journey in less than 12 hours . This would be up to four hours faster than the semi-high-speed Rajdhani Express trains that had been earmarked for the line .
“ In principle , we want to get two rakes ( sets of trains and carriages ) on immediate basis ,” the newspaper reported a ‘ top ’ railway official as saying , on condition of anonymity .
The Talgo trains would be more expensive than the Rajdhani Express , but they would have an average speed almost 35kph faster . This will help the Indian government ’ s long-term goal of accelerating the country ’ s overall network .
Travellers from the UK and US accounted for the largest share of e-tourist visas
Travellers from the UK and US accounted for the largest share of e-tourist visas issued by India in November 2016 .
According to the latest data from the country ’ s Ministry of Tourism , a total of 136,876 international tourists visited India on e-visas in November , up 63.9 % year-on-year .
UK nationals accounted for 22.3 % of this monthly total , followed by the US ( 12.9 %), Russia ( 8.7 %), France ( 6.3 %) and China ( 6.1 %). Germany ( 4.6 %), Australia ( 4.1 %), Canada ( 3.6 %), Netherlands ( 1.8 %) and Ukraine ( 1.8 %) completed the top 10 .
Almost half the e-visas were issued at Delhi Airport ( 45.0 %), followed by Mumbai ( 18.5 %), Goa ( 14.2 %), Chennai ( 5.3 %) and Bengaluru ( 5.2 %) airports .
For the first 11 months of 2016 , India has now issued a total of 917,446 e-tourist visas .
The shares of the India Tourism Development Corporation ( ITDC ) have started being traded on the India ’ s largest stock exchange
The public sector body , which is controlled by India ’ s Ministry of Tourism , started listing its shares on the National Stock Exchange ( NSE ) on 30 December 2016 , with an opening price of INR229 ( approx . US $ 3.35 ).
On the same day , the stock touched a high of INR234 before later settling at INR211 per share . In terms of volume , a total of 122,798 shares were traded on the NSE .
“ It ’ s a matter of great pride for us to be listed in India ’ s largest stock exchange and world ’ s third largest stock exchange in terms of transactions ,” said Pradip Kumar Das , director of finance at ITDC . “ At ITDC , we are moving with positive momentum and are sure that we are going to make some remarkable performances in the coming years .”
IDTC had already traded shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE ).
IndiGo ’ s domestic market share in India is increasing
IndiGo with the low-cost carrier now handling more than 40 % of total passenger traffic on routes within the country . According to the latest data from India ’ s Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ), IndiGo carried 3.77 million passengers on routes within India in November 2016 , accounting for 42.1 % of total domestic traffic . This is the third consecutive month that IndiGo has secured a 40 % domestic market share .
Travelnjoy | January 2017 | 11