The schemes include the Railways increasing the foreign tourist quota in important trains such as Shatabdi and Rajdhani, streamlining the arrangements at designated overseas centres for advance bookings, organising special rail excursions and planning special Explore India Rail itineraries for foreign students and offering special package tours to NRIs and foreign tourists.

Railway Board member (traffic) and secretary in railway ministry Shanti Narain told The Financial Express that the schemes have been planned to augment tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings during the Visit India Year.

Narian said besides other schemes, the Railways has planned special package tours for the NRIs and foreign tourists to visit churches, temples, gurudwaras and other religious shrines of India.

The Railways has also planned special trainskeeping budget tourism in mind which will cover circuits like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, West Bengal and Orissa and the Northeast, among others.

"For the first time, the focus will be shifting from the traditional western tourism to regional tourism", said Narian.

To promote youth tourism, special `Explore India Rail' itineraries of seven, 15, 21 and 30 days has been planned for student groups from foreign universities, colleges and schools during vacations. For steam-engine enthusiasts, rail excursions including trips on the Fairy Queen, the oldest steam engine in the world are also on the anvil.

The schemes will be promoted abroad through various means including display of attractive colour posters and brochures on rail travel through overseas offices of the tourism ministry, Air India and Indian missions abroad and screening video films in overseas offices on Palace-on-Wheels and Royal Orient trains.

Besides, special promotions in importantoverseas source markets for tourists in the form of quiz competitions, painting and poetry writing competitions to test their knowledge of India and Indian Railways will be carried out, with various prizes on offer to the winners.

The Railways also plans to print `Visit India' logos on about 23 crore Railway tickets to generate awareness about the tourism campaign.