Bhubaneswar: “Shri Jagannath Yatra” Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train was flagged off today from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on its auspicious tour by Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship along with Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, G Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Development of North Eastern Region of India.
Vaishnaw, during his visit to Odisha had promised for a special train on the theme of “Shri Jagannath Yatra Circuit” for the Jagannath devotees to have a holy experience of the pilgrimage tour. Keeping the promise the special train was flagged off today for the rich cultural heritage and holy experience of the devotees. The Minister has also added that the special tourist train on its maiden journey will receive a grand welcome on its arrival at Puri.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train started on its very special tour Shri Jagannath Yatra with 528 tourists covering some of the very prominent pilgrimage and heritage destinations of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa States. The train embarks on its journey on the 8 days tour wherein the one among the Char Dham of India i.e. Jagannath temple of Puri will be visited by the tourists. Besides, the visit of Varanasi, Baidyanath Dham and Gaya will be added attractions in the tour.
The proposed 08 day Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour has its first stop at Varanasi, where tourists will visit Kashi Vishwanath temple & Corridor along with the Ganga ghat & Arati. After Varanasi, the train will move to Jashidih Railway station in Jharkhand and tourist will proceed to visit Baidyanath dham Jyotirling temple. Further train will depart from Jashidih to Puri where stay for two nights will be arranged for tourists in the hotels.
While at Puri, tourists will visit Jagannath temple, Golden Puri beach, Sun temple at Konark and temples of Bhubneshwar. After Puri, Gaya will be the last destination where the visit of Vishnupad temple will be covered in the tour. Train will return back to Delhi on the 8th day of its journey on 1st Feb 2023.
Coupled with a modern state of the art AC rake, the tourist train will have options to board/de-board the train at Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur and Lucknow stations in the tour.
This fully air-conditioned tourist train will comprise of eleven 3rd AC coaches, one pantry car and two SLR’s. Freshly cooked vegetarian meals will be served on board to the guests in their respective seats from the well-equipped modern pantry car. The train has also been fitted with infotainment system for the entertainment of the passengers as well as for public announcements. From clean toilets to enhanced security features of CCTV Cameras and Security Guards for each coach have also been provided for the tourists.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. At a price range starting from Rs. 17,655/- per person, the IRCTC tourist train will be an all-inclusive tour package covering train journey in 3rd AC, Night stay at 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.
