1st Bharat Darshan train from city booked to capacity
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, August 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=20090822200908220342415154f56e249)
This is one tour offer that only the Railways can afford. For tourists, there can’t be anything better. Railways’ IRCTC is inaugurating a 10-day ‘Bharat Darshan’ tour covering 10 cities across the length and breadth of the country for Rs 500 a day from Ahmedabad today. It comes with a little rider — the trips begin bang in the midst of the swine flu epidemic, not the best time to travel. The first tour.
The flu scare notwithstanding, the Bharat Darshan tour has been a hit with tourists, what with the low fares, accommodation and sight-seeing provided by the railways for a ticket worth Rs 5,160. All 470 berths were lapped up in the first few days of the offer opening. The special eight-bogie train will be sleeper class.
Pravin Parmar, regional director IRCTC Gujarat said, “A majority of the passengers are senior citizens for the fare is kept low. Families and groups too made early bookings.”
‘Bharat Darshan’ tours were launched over a year ago, but the Ahmedabad circuit kicks off only now. The first circular trip will ply the Ahmedabad-Kolkata circuit with stops at Vadodara, Surat, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Puri, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, Indore, Omkareshwar and Ujjain before returning to the city in 10 days. This one is a pilgrim places circuit.
The food on board would be vegetarian, some supplied from the pantry car and some picked up from stations on the route. The accommodation during halts will be IRCTC’s responsibility, as will be the breakfast, lunch and dinner at the guest houses. To top it, all tourists will be taken round all 10 cities for sight-seeing as part of the package.
Excise officer K J Solanki, preparing to travel in a group of seven, told AM, “The package is extremely attractive. There’s no food and accommodation bother, leaving us with quality time for leisure. No private tour operator can match this offer.”
The second tour on the same circuit will begin on September 2, while a South India tour will start in the mid-Sept for a fare of Rs 6,710. The Bharat Darshan routeThe first circular trip on the Ahmedabad-Kolkata circuit will have stops at Vadodara, Surat, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Puri, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, Indore, Omkareshwar and Ujjain before returning to the city in 10 days
Posted On Saturday, August 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20Latest§id=2&contentid=20090822200908220342415154f56e249)
This is one tour offer that only the Railways can afford. For tourists, there can’t be anything better. Railways’ IRCTC is inaugurating a 10-day ‘Bharat Darshan’ tour covering 10 cities across the length and breadth of the country for Rs 500 a day from Ahmedabad today. It comes with a little rider — the trips begin bang in the midst of the swine flu epidemic, not the best time to travel. The first tour.
The flu scare notwithstanding, the Bharat Darshan tour has been a hit with tourists, what with the low fares, accommodation and sight-seeing provided by the railways for a ticket worth Rs 5,160. All 470 berths were lapped up in the first few days of the offer opening. The special eight-bogie train will be sleeper class.
Pravin Parmar, regional director IRCTC Gujarat said, “A majority of the passengers are senior citizens for the fare is kept low. Families and groups too made early bookings.”
‘Bharat Darshan’ tours were launched over a year ago, but the Ahmedabad circuit kicks off only now. The first circular trip will ply the Ahmedabad-Kolkata circuit with stops at Vadodara, Surat, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Puri, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, Indore, Omkareshwar and Ujjain before returning to the city in 10 days. This one is a pilgrim places circuit.
The food on board would be vegetarian, some supplied from the pantry car and some picked up from stations on the route. The accommodation during halts will be IRCTC’s responsibility, as will be the breakfast, lunch and dinner at the guest houses. To top it, all tourists will be taken round all 10 cities for sight-seeing as part of the package.
Excise officer K J Solanki, preparing to travel in a group of seven, told AM, “The package is extremely attractive. There’s no food and accommodation bother, leaving us with quality time for leisure. No private tour operator can match this offer.”
The second tour on the same circuit will begin on September 2, while a South India tour will start in the mid-Sept for a fare of Rs 6,710. The Bharat Darshan routeThe first circular trip on the Ahmedabad-Kolkata circuit will have stops at Vadodara, Surat, Bhusawal, Nagpur, Puri, Kolkata, Allahabad, Varanasi, Indore, Omkareshwar and Ujjain before returning to the city in 10 days
