The Ministry of Railways, in a collaborative initiative with IRCTC Ltd, is all set to operate a ‘North East Discovery’ tour to promote the relatively untraversed North Eastern states of India, the Ministry said in a statement.
According to an official statement, the specially curated tour on the Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist train will be commencing its journey from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on November 16, 2023.As per the schedule, the tour will cover Guwahati, Sivasagar, Jorhat & Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala and Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland, and Shillong and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya over the 15 days tour.
The Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train has a host of modern features including two dining cars/restaurants, a contemporary kitchen (flameless), shower cubicles in AC I and AC II coaches, sensor-based washroom functions, a foot massager, and mini library.
The fully air-conditioned train provides three types of accommodation viz. AC I, AC II and AC III. The train also has enhanced security features like CCTV cameras, electronic safes and dedicated security guards appointed for each coach.
Spanning over 14 nights and 15 days, the first stop of this train will be Guwahati where tourists will visit Kamakhya Temple, followed by Umananda Temple and a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra River.
This train will further depart on the overnight journey for Naharlagun Railway Station which is 30 km from the next destination Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.
The next city to follow is Sivasagar which is the old capital of the Ahom Kingdom in the Eastern part of Assam, and the famous Shiva temple Sivadol is also a part of the itinerary besides other heritage sites like Talatal Ghar and Rang Ghar (Colosseum of the East).
There will be a visit to the tea gardens at Jorhat and an overnight stay at Kaziranga along with an early morning jungle safari at Kaziranga National Park will be experienced by the tourists.
Later, the train will depart for the state of Tripura where the guests will go sightseeing at the famous heritage site of Unakoti in the densely covered Jampui Hills and then they will proceed to the capital city of Agartala, the tour of which includes the famous Ujjayanta Palace, the Neermahal and the Tripura Sundari Mandir at Udaipur, the official statement said.
Post Tripura, the train will for Dimapur to cover the state of Nagaland.
The scenic train journey between Badarpur station to Lumding Junction can be witnessed by the guests in the early hours of the morning from their seats.
From Dimapur station, tourists will be taken to Kohima by buses to visit 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 from where the sightseers will be taken to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya, by road with a pit stop at the majestic Umium Lake.
The next day will start with an excursion to Cherrapunji nestled in the East Khasi Hills, and Shillong Peak, Elephant Falls, Nawkhalikai Falls and Mawsmai caves will be 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 back to Delhi.
Around 5800 km will be covered in the course of the entire train tour, as per the official statement.
It is pertinent to mention that the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiatives “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to encourage domestic tourism.
The IRCTC tourist train will be a 15-day all-inclusive tour package with train journey in respective class, night stay at AC hotels, all meals (vegetarian only), all transfer and sightseeing in buses, travel insurance, services of tour escort 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, the official statement added.
