NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NOIDA, FEB 15
If you desire to celebrate family events in a different and fancy way, you can have a Metrorail coach decked up with balloons and bunting? Try Noida Metro. But remember you can’t serve liquor and your guests might be asked to go through a metal detector, just like other Metro passengers.
On Wednesday, the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) had announced that its coaches can now be booked for events like birthdays and pre-wedding functions. The decision is apparently taken to mop up revenue through non-conventional and optimum utilisation of empty/idle coaches, sources said.
The NMRC manages the rapid transport service through 21 stations between Noida and Greater Noida.
The offer is part of what it calls its “non-farebox” initiative. Earlier, the NMRC had unrolled a policy for shooting movies on its trains.
Apart from being a mode of transport, an NMRC statement said, Noida Metro will become an affordable destination for entertainment and celebrations, that too at a very reasonable cost”.
Those interested in celebrations on wheels should apply 15 days in advance and they can book up to four coaches. Expect to pay between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 per hour, per coach. Taxes are extra. There is also a Rs 20,000 refundable security deposit.
The final cost would depend on whether the coaches are stationed at one end of the line or running between stations, and if they have been decorated for the party.
The guest list must be limited to 50, including children. The NMRC will provide the housekeeping staff.
“The applicants at all times would be governed by the guidelines as prescribed under the policy regarding security check, loss or damage to the metro property, hampering of operational activities, conduct, consumption of alcohol or use of fire, gunfire and explosives and others, etc,” the NMRC statement added.
