Restaurant on Coach to come up on Tiruchi Rail Museum premises

Civil works connected with setting up a Restaurant on Coach on the sprawling Tiruchi Rail Museum premises have commenced

Civil works connected with setting up a Restaurant on Coach on the sprawling Tiruchi Rail Museum premises have commenced.

The Restaurant on Coach is a novel initiative of the railways aimed at providing a different dining experience for the public inside a refurbished rail coach. It will be an added attraction to those visiting the museum.

A concrete base has been laid to a length of around 30 metres at the chosen area within the premises of the rail museum which is situated close to the Tiruchi junction. A broad gauge track would be laid on the concrete base to install an overaged unused rail coach on the track.  An overaged coach has been identified for converting it into a restaurant after making necessary modifications. 

Under this initiative aimed at generating non-fare revenue, the railways would spare an old rail coach with bogie to set up a restaurant and construct the basement structure.  Once the ongoing civil works get completed and the track is laid, the old coach would be moved to the rail museum by a lorry and placed on the track using a crane, the sources added.

A private agency identified by the Tiruchi Railway Division has been awarded the contract for setting up the restaurant. The agency would customise the old coach by completely refurbishing its interiors and set up a kitchen inside to dish a variety of food items to the general public.

The agency would run the restaurant on coach for five years and pay licence fee to the railways to provide the service. On completion of contract, the refurbished coach would have to be handed over to the railway administration. Plans were afoot to provide a parking space inside the museum premises for the general public coming to the restaurant.

The Restaurant on Coach will be the first-of-its kind facility in the Tiruchi Railway Division. The Tiruchi Rail Museum, which functions on a five-acre premises close to the railway station, showcases a slew of vintage items and objects used by the railways during the colonial era.  Several old and rare documents used during the erstwhile South Indian Railway era had been carefully preserved at the museum which started functioning from February 2015.