Ranchi: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to introduce a package tour in the Ranchi-Muri section similar to the one in Andhra Pradesh's Araku Valley.

Debashis Chandra, IRCTC group general manager (east zone), informed this after the inauguration of an IRCTC office at the station by Ranchi divisional railway manger (DRM) V.K. Gupta on Tuesday.

"We plan to introduce a package tour in the Ranchi-Muri section, a distance of around 60km, and another one in the New Jalpaiguri-Guwahati section, a stretch of around 460km. The trips would be conducted on Vistadome coaches which come with glass roofs and revolving chairs offering tourists a panoramic view of the forests and the hills along the journey," Chandra said.

He added that the 45-km Lohardaga-Tori sector, when opened to rail traffic, would also offer tourists a closer view of the breathtaking forests and hills.

There can also be a rail-road tourism package covering the waterfalls in Hundru, Jonah and Dassam, he added.

"The new IRCTC office, which will function with three officials, will expedite grievance redress and bulk bookings for both package and normal tours," Chandra said.

He added that the state government had recently introduced a few schemes to take students to places of academic interest and senior citizens to pilgrimages," he explained.

"Besides, domestic tour packages, we have also introduced international packages covering countries such as Sri Lanka, Dubai and Thailand," Chandra said, adding the IRCTC office would help people in getting their bookings done.

He said a base kitchen would opened here in the next fiscal to improve the quality of food served on trains. "We have sent a proposal to the ministry to carry out the maintenance work of Ranchi-New Delhi Rajdhani Express here so that complaints with regards to food can be addressed," DRM Gupta said.