India-Nepal India gaurav Tourist Train

Tags: Popular National News

The first India-Nepal Bharat Gaurav tourism train has been flagged off from Delhi's Safdarjung Railway Station.

• This tourist train will connect India and Nepal for the first time.

• 500 Indian tourists are on board this train.

• The Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train between India and Nepal will provide an opportunity to people across the country to visit the country's architectural, historical and cultural sites.

• The first journey of this train (Ramayana Circuit) covered the religious destination of Janakpur (in Nepal) apart from other popular destinations like Ayodhya, Nandigram, Varanasi, Sitamarhi, Chitrakoot, Prayagraj, Hampi, Panchavati (Nashik), Rameshwaram and Bhadrachalam.

• Bharat Gaurav Trains is an attempt to showcase the rich spiritual, cultural and historical heritage of India to its people.

• This unique idea was conceived by the Ministry of Railways.

• This train will return to Delhi after completing an 18 days journey.

• It will cover a distance of about 8000 km in the entire Ramayana tour.

• The theme of Bharat Gaurav Train is 'Dekho Apna Desh'.

• IRCTC has fixed a fee of Rs 62370/- per person for this 18 days journey.

• About Bharat Gaurav Scheme

• In November 2021, Indian Railways introduced Bharat Gaurav trains which will be operated by private operators and will run on theme-based circuits.

• Through this scheme operators have the “Right of Use” of railway rakes and infrastructure. 

• Under this scheme, private players and tour operators can buy trains on lease from the Railways and operate them on any circuit of their choice and decide the fares, route and quality of services.

• Till now, railways used to operate the passenger section and goods section but now the tourism section has also been added under this scheme.

• The scheme has been developed after extensive discussions with several state governments including Odisha, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and stakeholders.

• The first train to be operated between Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) and Shirdi (Maharashtra) by a private operator under the "Bharat Gaurav" scheme was flagged off on June 14.