Indian Railways will operate a Bharat Gaurav tourist train from the national capital to cover some of the northeastern states.
The tour will start from Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station on March 21, 2023, and will cover Guwahati, Sivasagar, Jorhat, and Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala, and Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur, and Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong and Cherapunji in Meghalaya in 15 days. Spanning over 14 nights and 15 days, the first stop will be Guwahati where tourists will visit Kamakhya Temple followed by Umananda Temple and a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra.
The train will further depart on an overnight journey for Naharlagun Railway Station which is 30 kms from the next destination Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. The next city to follow is Sivasagar – the old capital of the Ahom Kingdom in the Eastern part of Assam. The famous Shiva temple at Sivasagar, Sivadol is a part of the itinerary besides other heritage sites.
Further, the tea gardens at Jorhat and an overnight stay at Kaziranga followed by an early morning jungle safari at Kaziranga National Park will be experienced the tourists.
The train will next depart for Tripura where the sightseeing of the famous heritage sites of Unakoti and of Agartala including the famous Ujjayanta Palace will be facilitated.
The next day, the Neermahal palace and Tripura Sundari mandir at Udaipur will be covered in the itinerary. Post Tripura, the train departs for Nagaland.
After Nagaland, the tourist train will be to Guwahati and tourists will be taken to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya by road with a pit stop at the majestic Umium Lake enroute. The Meghalaya leg will start with an excursion to Cherrapunji nestled in the East Khasi Hills. Shillong Peak, Elephant Falls, Nawkhalikai falls and Mawsmai caves are a part of the day’s sightseeing. From Cherrapunji the tourists travel back to Guwahati Station to board the train for the return train journey to Delhi.
Guests will be travelling roughly 5800 Kms in this entire tour by train.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India’s initiatives “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism.
At a price range starting from Rs 106,990 per person in AC 2 Tier, Rs 131,990 per person for AC 1 (Cabin) and Rs 149,290 per cent per person for AC 1 (Coupe) the IRCTC tourist train will be a 15-day all-inclusive tour package and the price will cover train journey in respective class, Night stays at AC hotels, All meals (VEG ONLY), all transfer and sight-seeing in buses, Travel Insurance and services of guide etc.
All necessary health precautionary measures will be taken care of, and IRCTC will make efforts to provide guests with a safe and memorable experience. In order to make this package more attractive and affordable to a large population, IRCTC has tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways to provide EMI payment options for breaking the total payment into small amounts EMIs.