Puneites planning to take the rail route this summer vacation have some reason to cheer. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched two special tourist trains that have affordable tour packages that will include travelling fare, lodging and accommodation, meals and intercity bus travel. First train is ‘Janam Bhumi Gaurav,’ will take the passengers to holy places and tourist destinations in western parts of the country,Second special train ‘South Darshan’ will connect important historical, religious and tourist attractions in south India.Janam Bhumi Gaurav will start from Pune, South Darshan will start from Ahmedabad and will pass through the city. The Janam Bhumi Gaurav train was declared by former Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the 2011-12 Railway Budget and was originally planned to start from Mumbai, but its launch has been delayed.“We were given the option of extending the train till Pune. Considering that it would be difficult to get capacity passengers from Mumbai alone and its extension till Pune will also benefit Puneites, we have decided to extend it,” said an IRCTC official. The route of the Janam Bhumi Gaurav train, which will depart from Pune on March 30, and it will be: Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad-(Lothal)-Bhavnagar (Palitana)-(Alang)-Gir-Diu (Somnath-Veraval)-(Junagarh)-Rajkot-Mumbai-Pune. The South Darshan Express will start from Ahmedabad and will cover important tourist destinations including Goa, Tirupati, Rameshwaram, Madurai, Kanyakumari and Thiruvananthapuram. The train will start from Ahmedabad on March 30 and will arrive in Pune around 7 pm the same day.
Both the trips will have hall accommodation at places for night stay, vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner and tourist buses for visiting sight-seeing spots that best suits the tourists from any region. For the South Darshan tourist train, the package cost would be Rs 12,499 for sleeper class and Rs 18,399 for AC 3-tier. There are 712 seats for sleeper class and 230 seat for three-tier AC. Tickets for both the trains can be booked either from IRCTC counter at the Pune railway station or online by visiting the IRCTC website. Commuter groups have welcomed the move. “This is a good initiative by IRCTC. The extension of Janam Bhumi Gaurav train till Pune will benefit people from Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Ahmednagar, apart from Pune. Passengers will be able to visit important tourist destinations from north-west and south India.
