IRCTC plans to run 4 more ‘Shri Ramayana Yatra’ special train

New Delhi: In view of the high demand of the devotees, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is giving more people a chance to visit all prominent places associated with the life of Lord Shri Rama and have darshan.

In line with this, the company has planned to run four more Ramayana Circuit Special Train to promote religious tourism. These trains will run in addition to the first announced train, which will start on November 7.

According to the IRCTC official, the trains will start from different cities, i.e. Madurai, Pune, Shri Ganganagar and Ahmedabad in the month of November and January. The first additional train will start on November 16, whereas, the second and third train will start on November 25 and November 27 respectively. The fourth train will start its journey on January 20.

Notably, IRCTC has launched this special tourist train to promote the Central government’s initiative “Dekho Apna Desh.” This train was previously operated with Sleeper class only, however, the proposed first tour is going to be operated in Deluxe AC tourist train having many modern features and amenities. The State of Art Deluxe AC tourist train has a host of astounding features including two fine dining restaurants, a modern kitchen, shower cubicles in coaches, sensor-based washroom functions and foot massager.

The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation- first AC and second AC. The train has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and security guards for each coach. The package price of this tour is Rs 82950 plus tax only, which covers train Journey in AC classes, accommodation in AC Hotels, all meals, all transfer and sightseeing in AC vehicles, travel insurance and services of IRCTC tour managers. An IRCTC official informed that 156 passengers can travel on this train and booking of the first train is almost full.

Whereas, all additional trains will operate with sleeper and 3 AC class coaches. The package price of this tour is a minimum of Rs 7,560 and the maximum is Rs 16,065 only, informed an official statement.

In this special tour, tourists will visit Shri Ram Janmbhoomi temple and Hanuman temple and additionally Bharat Mandir at Nandigram, Sitamarhi in Bihar, the birthplace of Sita, and Ram-Janki Temple in Janakpur, Nepal will be covered by road. The train will move to Varanasi, and tourists will visit temples at Varanasi, Prayagraj, Shringverpur, and Chitrakoot by road. The train will also go to Nasik, Hampi and Rameswaram, where devotees would be able to worship Lord Ram. Guests will be travelling roughly 7,500 kilometres in this entire tour.

An official statement said, “To ensure the safety measures post COVID-19 in this tourist train, COVID-19 full vaccination is mandatory for guests of age group 18 or above. Besides this, IRCTC will also provide a safety kit to all tourists having face masks, hand gloves and sanitiser.”