Indian Railways has come up with a special `Garvi Gujarat’ tour to showcase the cultural and spiritual heritage of Vibrant Gujarat. . This special Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC tourist train, operated by IRCTC, will depart on 28 February from Delhi Safdarjung Railway Station on an 8-day tour. Boarding and deboarding facility is provided at Gurugram, Rewari, Ringas, Phullera and Ajmer Railway Stations for convenience of tourists.
This train tour package has been designed on the lines of the “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” scheme conceptualised on the life of Great Freedom Fighter Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel. The first stoppage of this train tour package will be at Kevadiya wherein the Statue of Unity will be the centre of attraction. The entire train will cover a distance of 3,500 km approx during the course of 8 days journey.
The visit of world’s tallest statue – Statue of Unity, Champaner archaeological park which is a UNESCO world heritage site, Adhlej Step Well, Akshardham Temple at Ahmedabad, Sabarmati Ashram, Modhera Sun Temple and the Rani ki Vao another UNESCO site at Patan are the major heritage treasures included in the tour itinerary. Besides, the places like visit of Somnath Jyotirlinga, Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Dwarkadheesh Temple and Beyt Dwarka are the religious sites covered in the 8-day tour. There will be two night stay in the hotels, one each at Kevadiya and Ahmedabad, respectively, while the visit of places at Somnath and Dwarka will be covered in the day halt at the destination.
The State of Art Deluxe AC Tourist Train has a host of attractive features, including two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor based washroom functions, foot massager. The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation, viz, 1st AC and 2nd AC. The train has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and security guards for each coach and also equipped with infotainment system in the entire train.
Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India’s initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism. At a price range starting from Rs52,250 per person in AC 2 Tier, Rs67,140 per person for AC 1 (Cabin) and Rs77,400 per person for AC 1 (Coupe) the IRCTC tourist train will be an 8 days all inclusive tour package and the price will cover train journey in respective class, night stay at AC hotels, all meals (Veg only), all transfer and 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.” .
In order to make this package more attractive and affordable to a large population, IRCTC has tied up with payment gateways for providing EMI payment option for breaking the total payment in small amount EMIs.