GUWAHATI:
Northeast Frontier Railway will operate its first Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train from Dibrugarh on May 27 for a popular religious tourist circuit, covering Shree Mata Vaishnodevi, Ayodhya, Prayagraj and Varanasi. Passengers can board and de-board in stations at Dibrugarh, Simaluguri, Mariani, Dimapur, Lumding, Guwahati, Rangiya, New Bongaigaon, New Coochbehar, New Jalpaiguri, Katihar, Barauni Jn, Hajipur and Sonpur.
The train comprises 8 LHB sleeper coaches and 3 AC 3-tier coaches with a pantry car.
Spanning over 10 nights and 11 days, the first stop of this train will be at Katra where tourists will visit Mata Vaishnodevi Temple. This train will further depart for Ayodhya where tourists will visit Ram Janma Bhoomi, Hanumangarhi followed by Aarati at Sarayu River.
The next destination to follow is Prayagraj where tourists will visit the sacred place Triveni Sangam and Alopi Devi Temple.
The next halt for the tourist train will be at Varanasi where tourists will visit Ganga Aarti and Kashi Vishwanath Temple among other pilgrimage places.
The tourist will be provided with meals onboard and packaged drinking water during the train journey. The meal comprises early morning tea, breakfast, and lunch with evening tea and dinner. Cleanliness of the coaches and hygiene in the toilets will be taken care of by dedicated on-board housekeeping staff.
“Unarmed security guards will also be deployed in every coach to ensure that the passenger belongings are kept safe and no unauthorized passenger board the special tourist train. Every coach will also have dedicated escorts to cater to every need of the passengers,” said a spokesperson of NF Railway here.
“Dedicated coaches/buses will be provided to the tourists for off-board transfers and sightseeing. The tourists will be escorted by dedicated tour escorts throughout the trip. For sleeper class, non-AC family hotel rooms will be provided at the places of night stay and AC accommodation will be arranged in standard category hotels for AC Passengers,” he said.
The entire trip will cost per person approximately Rs. 20,850/- and Rs 31,135/- inclusive of GST for Sleeper Class and AC 3-tier respectively. All necessary health precautionary measures will be taken care of and IRCTC will make efforts to provide a safe and memorable experience to the guests.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiatives “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism.
Indian Railways is providing approximately 33 per cent concession for the promotion of rail tourism under the Bharat Gaurav Train scheme.
To make this package more attractive and affordable, bookings made directly through the IRCTC website can avail the facility of EMI through Paytm, Razor Pay (credit facility of 3-18 months through debit card & 3-24 months through credit card) & Bajaj Finance (credit facility of 3 months & 5 months only).