The second Gaurav Bharat train from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh commenced its journey from the Secunderabad railway station on Tuesday.
The authorities have also announced three more trips for the summer season during April and May. Named as “Punya Kshetra Yatra / Ganga Pushkaralu Yatra : Puri – Kasi – Ayodhya”, the train is being operated by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). IRCTC is providing end-to-end services for the pilgrim tourist passengers travelling by the train.
It includes all travel facilities (both rail as well as road transport), accommodation facility, catering arrangements (Morning Tea, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner – both on-board and off-board), services of professional and friendly tour escorts, security on train (including CCTV cameras installed in all coaches), public announcement facility in all coaches, travel insurance and presence of IRCTC tour managers throughout the travel for assistance.
The tour involves visiting important and historical places of Puri, Konark, Gaya, Varanasi, Ayodhya and Prayagraj over a period of eight nights and nine days duration. The train comprises both AC and Non-AC class coaches so as to meet the demands of rail passengers.
The third trip of this train will start on April 29, fourth trip on May 13 and fifth trip will start on May 27. With the huge interest built up from the passengers for this unique initiative, pilgrim passengers from all the nine stopping stations (including Secunderabad) spread across the two Telugu states have come forward to avail the opportunity. All the seats have been booked for all the classes for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th trips and for the 5th trip, all seats in 2 tier AC have been booked and around 50% of the seats have been booked in 3 tier AC and II sleeper coaches with the remaining seats being filled up fast.
Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager, South Central Railway, said, “The train offers a unique opportunity to pilgrim passengers to visit culturally prominent places without the hassle of planning individual itinerary items.” He appealed to the tourist operators to utilise the scheme of “Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train” concept through which theme-based tours can be organised by owning or taking lease the railway coaches,” he said.
