Railways to run tourist train between Ayodhya and Nepal's Janakpur

To showcase India’s cultural heritage and magnificent historical places, Indian Railways is operating Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC tourist train with the theme “Shri Ram-Janaki Yatra: Ayodhya to Janakpur” covering two most important pilgrimage sites - Ayodhya and neighbouring country Nepal’s Janakpur.

The tourist train will start from Delhi on 17th Feb 2023 and this initiative will strengthen the bilateral relations and also promote the cultural relations between the two countries, the Indian Railways said in a statement.

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, foot massager. The fully air-conditioned train provides two types of accommodation viz. 1st AC and 2nd AC. The train has enhanced security features of CCTV cameras and Security Guards for each coach and also equipped with an infotainment system in the entire train.

The proposed 7-day Bharat Gaurav Tourist train tour has its first stop at Ayodhya. Then it will move to Sitamarhi Railway station in Bihar and tourists will further proceed to Janakpur in Nepal by bus which is 70 Km away from Sitamarhi Railway station. During their stay at Janakpur, tourists can visit Ram Janki Temple, Sita Ram Vivah Mandap and Dhanush Dham. Next day tourists will return back to Sitamarhi and visit the Janki temple at Sitamarhi and Punaura Dham. From Sitamarhi, the train will proceed on an overnight journey to Varanasi. After visiting important places in Varanasi, tourists will move to Prayagraj by bus. After Prayagraj, the train will return back to Delhi on the 7th day of its journey. Guests will be travelling roughly 2,500 Km in this tour.

The train will be operated by IRCTC. The train can accommodate 156 tourists onboard. Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiative “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism, said the statement.