IRCTC to launch ‘Bharat Darshan’ tourist train from Madhya Pradesh today, details here
In this tour package, passengers will be provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner with accommodation in budget hotels or dharmshalas as well as tourist buses. Also, accident insurance up to ₹4 lakhs will also be given to the passengers.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be launching another Bharat Darshan tourist train from Madhya Pradesh today (i.e. Friday, October 8) in a bid to promote religious tourism in the country. The launch comes days after the IRCTC started a similar ‘tourist train’, which is meant to explore the five northeastern states under the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ (“Explore your country”) initiative. These tour packages are meant to be all-encompassing, with the IRCTC team taking care of all the travel needs of the passengers.
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Bharat Darshan is a joint project of the Indian Railways and the Union ministry of tourism and culture, which organises “the world's cheapest and most comfortable” tour packages from time to time. Its purpose is to introduce the culture of different parts of the country to people who are deprived of tourism due to any reason.
Which religious sites will the special tourist train cover?
The Bharat Darshan train which is being launched from Madhya Pradesh will start from the Rewa station and eventually travel through railway stations that will let passengers explore Agra, Mathura, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Amritsar, and even the Vaishno Devi shrine (Katra).
The main aim to run this train is to give an “enhanced experience to explore beautiful historical and devotional places of North India.”
What are the notable features of this journey?
In this tour package, passengers will be provided breakfast, lunch, and dinner with accommodation in budget hotels or dharmshalas as well as tourist buses. Also, accident insurance up to ₹4 lakhs will also be given to the passengers.
During the entire duration of the journey, the IRCTC team will take care of all protocols, related to hygiene and health, and ensure a safe and worry-free experience by maintaining social distancing at all times.
“The eight nights and nine days tour has been designed keeping in mind the interest of every kind of traveller, who loves fun with devotion and visit old traditional cities of India,” said IRCTC public relations officer (PRO) Anand Kumar Jha.
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Where can one board this special tourist train?
According to IRCTC, the Bharat Darshan train will start from the Rewa station in Madhya Pradesh; however, special boarding facilities will also be available from other railway stations such as – Satna, Katni, Jabalpur, Narsinghpur, Itarsi, Hoshangabad, Habibganj, Vidisha, Ganj Basoda, Bina, and Jhansi.
What is the cost of this tour package?
The Bharat Darshan tour package for the special train which is starting from Madhya Pradesh today will cost ₹8,505 per person for the sleeper class, and ₹10,395 per person for AC 3-tier.
To book this journey, it will be mandatory for every passenger to have taken both doses of their respective coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines, and the age limit for the tickets is 18 years and above.