PINAKI MAJUMDAR
Jamshedpur, July 14: The Bharat Gaurav Special Tourist Train will run from Kolkata Station in West Bengal to Mata Vaishno Devi for Uttar Bharat Darshan Yatra on August 11 this year.
It is the first such tourism special train run by IRCTC for travel enthusiasts.
It is in line with the Government of India’s initiatives “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh”.
The Special Tourist Train will cover Mata Vaishno Devi along with Haridwar-Rishikesh-Golden Temple-Wagah Border-Taj Mahal-Mathura-Vrindavan-Ayodhya.
The train will commence the spiritual journey from Kolkata Station and will continue the pilgrim experience for 10 nights and 11 days.
Mecheda-Kharagpur-Tatanagar-Rourkela-Ranchi-Bokaro Steel City-Dhanbad-Hazaribagh Road-Koderma-Gaya-Sasaram-Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya stations have been identified for passengers’ boarding and de-boarding points.
The package has been classified into three categories i.e. Economy (SL Class) with 580 seats, Standard Class (3AC) with 140 seats and Comfort Class (3AC) with 70 seats.
The economy includes accommodation in Non AC Budget Hotels, whereas Standard and Comfort Categories involve accommodation in AC hotels.
The wash, change and transportation by bus will be non-AC for both Economy and Standard Class but AC Room for wash and change and AC buses will be applicable only for Comfort Class.
A standard vegetarian menu will be provided for all the classes during the entire trip. Apart from these services, the train will have professional tour escorts, housekeeping staff, unarmed security, surveillance cameras, a Public Address System and travel insurance for the safety and security of all the passengers.
All the services will cost Rs.17,700 per person for Economy Class, Rs.27,400 per person for Standard Class and Rs.30,300/- per person for Comfort Class.
Indian Railways is offering a 33 % concession for the promotion of rail tourism under the Bharat Gaurav Train Scheme.
