Delhi, June 10: Come June 21 this year and India’s first Bharat Gaurav tourist train would make its maiden journey under the command of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) following the Ministry of Railways’ new policy.
The railway has approved the routes to run this train on the Ramayana Circuit, which has been identified under the Swadesh Darshan scheme covering prominent places associated with the life of Lord Shri Rama.
While sharing details, spokesperson IRCTC Anand K Jha said that the visit to the famous temple of Ram Janaki in Janakpur under the Nepal territory has also been made part of the Bharat Gaurav train’s itinerary.
The first tourist train under the Union government’s Bharat Gaurav scheme will have a first-of-its-kind twist, in more ways than one.
Two coaches will have no berths, allowing passengers to practice yoga on the 18-day pilgrimage round trip — from Delhi to Nepal, and touching seven Indian states — for which there will be trained instructors on board, people aware of the plans said on Thursday.
The train is part of the Shri Ramayana Yatra service, a special tourist service to be operated by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, which will begin from Safdarjung station in Delhi on June 21, which is also celebrated as International Yoga Day.
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“India’s first Bharat Gaurav tourist train on Shri Ramayana Yatra Circuit will have different themes for all coaches and yoga is one of the themes. Passengers will be able to perform yoga. Apart from being designed to perform yoga, these two coaches will have yoga instructors too,” said a railway official, asking not to be named.
“The two dedicated yoga coaches will not have berths so that passengers have enough space to perform yoga,” said a railway official.
Costing ₹65,000 per head, a ticket will include all meals, overnight hotel stays at stops and insurance costs.
The train will cover 12 major tourist destinations of Ayodhya and Kashi (Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh, Janakpur (Nepal), Chitrakoot in Madhya Pradesh, Buxar and Sitamarhi in Bihar, Nashik in Maharashtra, Hampi in Karnataka, Rameshwaram and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu and Bhadrachalam in Telangana on its 8,000-km long journey.
“As many 450 tickets have already been booked for the maiden train that will reach its destination station in 18 days. A total of 600 passengers can travel on the train,” an IRCTC official said, asking not to be named.
The official added, “Apart from being the first tourist train under Bharat Gaurav Scheme of the railways, it is India’s first tourist train that will have all airconditioned coaches for passengers. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will provide a safety kit to all tourists containing a face mask, hand gloves, and hand sanitizer.”
Last month, officials said this will be the first time a tourist train will go from India to Nepal.
