MUMBAI: Soon, you will be able to enjoy a fine-dining experience in a rail-themed eatery at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to set up a restaurant inside a discarded air-conditioned coach of a broad-gauge train at the Carnac Bunder side entrance of the heritage railway terminus.

“We intend to refurbish a condemned AC coach into a restaurant. IRCTC will appoint a contractor who will operate the restaurant for a fee,” said Pinakin Morawala, public relations officer, IRCTC. “The restaurant will be a fine-dining place and will offer a unique experience. The coach will accommodate 50 patrons, but we will also put up tables outside the coach, if needed.”

Railway officials said the rail-themed restaurant may be launched next year.

With an aim to generate non-fare revenue, the railway board had asked its zonal officers to refurbish over-aged railway coaches into rail-themed eateries by hiring the services of architects and design consultants as well as experts from the hospitality sector.

In Mumbai, the IRCTC has zeroed in on CSMT’s P D’Mello side entrance because it has ample space to accommodate the rail-themed restaurant as well as vehicle parking and is not frequently used by railway passengers who generally prefer to use either the DN Road or the GPO building side entrances. A railway official said easy road connectivity is another factor that led to the selection of the location—the Eastern Express Highway is just 500m away.

The IRCTC project is on the lines of Shan-e-Bhopal, India’s first multi-cuisine rail coach restaurant, in Madhya Pradesh. In addition to its unique ambience and delicacies, the heritage-styled rail-themed eatery at Bhopal also boasts of sights and sounds resembling the look and feel of a railway station.

Railway board chairman Ashwani Lohani, during his stint as chairman and managing director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, had launched Shan-e-Bhopal in March 2007.