Agartala: Indian Railways has announced to operate Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist train to explore North-eastern states under the initiative of “Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” of the Centre to promote domestic tourism.
The fortnight-long trip will begin from Delhi Safdarjung railway station on Tuesday and will cover all the northeastern states except for Manipur, Mizoram, and Sikkim. The destinations like Guwahati, Sivasagar, Furkating, and Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala, and Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur, and Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya would be explored.
It will depart from Safdarjung station at 3.20 pm and tourists can board and de-board at Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur, and Lucknow stations. Spanning over 14 nights and 15 days, the first halt of this train will beat Guwahati on Thursday morning where tourists will visit Kamakhya temple followed by Umananda temple and a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra.
Thereafter, the train will reach Naharlagun of Arunachal Pradesh on the next morning followed by Sivasagar – the old capital of the Ahom Kingdom in the Eastern part of Assam. The famous Sivadol at Sivasagar is a part of the itinerary besides other heritage sites and tea gardens at Jorhat, the railway officials said.
The train will make an overnight stay at Kaziranga followed by an early morning jungle safari at Kaziranga National Park. Then, the train will leave for Tripura where the sightseeing at the famous heritage site of Unakoti and Agartala including the famous Ujjayanta Palace. On the next day, the water palace of eastern India (Neermahal) and Tripura Sundari mandir at Udaipur.
On March 29, the train departs to Dimapur for visiting Nagaland. From Dimapur station, tourists will be taken to Kohima by bus for visiting the local sites. The final halt for the tourist train will be at Guwahati on April 1 for traveling to Shillong by road with a pit stop at the majestic Umium Lake en route.
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 on April 2 next for Delhi Safdarjung station, the officials added.
The modern Deluxe AC Tourist Train fully air-conditioned train provides three types of accommodation two fine dining restaurants, a kitchen with enhanced security features like CCTV cameras, electronic safes, and dedicated security guards appointed for each coach.
