New Delhi: In order to promote religious tourism in the country, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will launch another Bharat Darshan tourist train from Madhya Pradesh on Friday. A similar ‘tourist train' was earlier launched to explore the five northeastern states under the ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ (“Explore your country”) initiative.


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. The purpose is to showcase the culture of different parts of the country to people who are deprived of tourism due to any reason.


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Which religious sites tourists can visit on this train?


The Bharat Darshan train will be flagged off from Rewa station in Madhya Pradesh and travel through railway stations allowing passengers to 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 facilities you will get?


Under this tour package, passengers will be given breakfast, lunch, and dinner with accommodation in budget hotels or dharmshalas including tourist buses. Also, accident insurance up to Rs4 lakhs will also be given to the passengers.


In the entire 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 traveler, who loves fun with devotion and visit old traditional cities of India,” said IRCTC public relations officer (PRO) Anand Kumar Jha.


Where can one board this special tourist train?


Although the Bharat Darshan train will start from the Rewa station there will be special boarding facilities available from other railway stations such as – Satna, Katni, Jabalpur, Narsinghpur, Itarsi, Hoshangabad, Habibganj, Vidisha, Ganj Basoda, Bina, and Jhansi.


How much one pays for this tour package?


The Bharat Darshan tour package for the special train which will kick off from Friday will cost Rs 8,505 per person for the sleeper class, and Rs 10,395 per person for AC 3-tier.


However, 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.