Indian Railways has decided to operate “North East Discovery: Beyond Guwahati”, a specially designed tour to cover the North-Eastern states of India by Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist train. The Bharat Gaurav Tourist Train launch is in line with the Government of India initiatives “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” to promote domestic tourism.
According to the official statement from the Ministry of Railway, the train tour will start from Delhi Safdarjung railway station on March 21, 2023. It will cover Guwahati, Sivasagar, Jorhat & Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala & Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur & Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong & Cherapunji in Meghalaya in 15 days tour.
Spanning over 14 nights and 15 days, the first stop of this train is Guwahati, where tourists will visit Kamakhya Temple followed by Umananda Temple and a sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra. This train will further depart on an overnight journey for Naharlagun Railway Station, which is 30 km from the next destination Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. The next city to follow is Sivasagar – the old capital of the Ahom Kingdom in the Eastern part of Assam. The famous Shiva temple at Sivasagar, Sivadol is a part of the itinerary besides other heritage sites. Further, the tea gardens at Jorhat and an overnight stay at Kaziranga will be followed by an early morning jungle safari at Kaziranga National Park will be experienced the tourists.
The Deluxe AC Tourist Train next departs from the Furkating Railway Station for the state of Tripura, where the sightseeing of the famous heritage site of Unakoti and Agartala includes the famous Ujjayanta Palace. On the next day, the Neermahal palace and Tripura Sundari mandir at Udaipur will be covered in the itinerary.
Post Tripura, the train departs for Dimapur for visiting the state of Nagaland. The guests can witness the scenic train journey between Badarpur station to Lumding Jn in the early hours of the morning from their seats. From Dimapur station, tourists would be taken to Kohima by bus to visit the local sites, including a tour of the Khonoma village to experience the Naga way of life. The next halt for the tourist train will be Guwahati from where the tourists will be taken to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya by road, with a pit stop at the majestic Umium Lake en route. The next day starts with an excursion to Cherrapunji, nestled in the East Khasi Hills. Shillong Peak, Elephant Falls, Nawkhalikai falls, and Mawsmai caves are a part of the day’s sightseeing. From Cherrapunji, the tourists travel back to Guwahati Station to board the train for the return train journey to Delhi. Guests will be traveling roughly 5800 Km in this entire tour by train.
Tourists can also board/deboard at Delhi, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Tundla, Itawah, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Varanasi railway stations, on this tourist train.