By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: Indian Railways has decided to operate “North East Discovery: Beyond Guwahati”, specially designed tour to cover the North eastern states of India by Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist train. The train tour will start from Delhi Safdarjung railway station on March 21, 2023 and will cover Guwahati, Sivasagar, Jorhat & Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala & Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur & Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong & Cherapunji in Meghalaya in 15 days tour.
Spanning over 14 nights and 15 days, the first stop of this train is Guwahati where tourists will visit Kamakhya Temple followed by Umananda Temple and a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra. This train will further depart on 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 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 by the tourists.
The Deluxe AC Tourist Train next departs from the Furkating Railway Station for the state of Tripura where the sightseeing of famous heritage site of Unakoti and of Agartala including the famous Ujjayanta Palace. On the next day, the Neermahal palace and Tripura Sundari mandir at Udaipur will be covered in the itinerary. Post Tripura, the train departs to Dimapur for visiting the state of Nagaland.
The scenic train journey between Badarpur station to Lumding Jn can be witnessed by the guests in the early hours of the morning from their seats. From Dimapur station tourists shall be taken to Kohima by buses for visiting the local sites including a tour of the Khonoma village to experience the Naga way of life. The next halt for the tourist train will be Guwahati and tourist will be taken to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya by road with a pit stop at the majestic Umium Lake enroute. The next day starts 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.
The modern Deluxe AC Tourist Train has a host of amazing features including two fine dining restaurants, a contemporary kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor based washroom functions, foot massager and a mini library. The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation viz. AC I and AC II. The train has enhanced security features like CCTV cameras, electronic safes and dedicated security guards appointed for each coach.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. At a price range starting from Rs.1,06,990/- per person in AC 2 Tier, Rs.1,31,990/- per person for AC 1 (Cabin) and Rs.1,49,290/- Per Person for AC 1 (Coupe) the IRCTC tourist train will be a 15 days all inclusive tour package and the price will cover train journey in respective class, Night stay at AC hotels, All meals (VEG ONLY), all transfer & 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 a safe and memorable experience to the guests.
To ensure safety measures in the present COVID 19 scenario, full vaccination (double doses) for guests of age group 18 or above is mandatory. Besides, IRCTC will also provide a safety kit to all tourists, which would include a face mask, hand gloves and sanitizer. Regular temperature checking of all tourists and staff, frequent train sanitization at halt stations etc and other precautions has also been adopted. Staff shall be screened thoroughly and kitchen & restaurants shall be sanitized after every meal service.
In order to make this package more attractive and affordable to a large population, IRCTC has tied up with Paytm and Razorpay payment gateways for providing EMI payment option for breaking the total payment in small amount EMIs.
