Kolkata: IRCTC flagged off its maiden and much-awaited ‘Swadesh Darshan’ tourist train from Kolkata station around 10am on Sunday.
The pilgrimage special, ‘Jyotirlinga Tourist Train-Swadesh Darshan’, will take tourists around various Jyotirlinga (Lord Shiva) temples across the country. The new avatar of ‘Bharat Darshan’ includes popular destinations like Ujjain, Omkareshwar, Mahakaleshwar, the Statue of Unity, Dwarka, Nageshwar, Somnath, Shirdi, Trimbakeshwar and Shani-Singapur.
IRCTC’s group general manager, eastern zone, Zafar Azam told TOI: “The duration of the package is 12 days and 11 nights. After leaving Kolkata, this train will pick up passengers from Dumka, Bhagalpur and Jamalpur. A total of 750 pilgrims will travel.” The train would return on November 17, he added.
Though ‘Bharat Darshan’, introduced by IRCTC, was quite popular earlier, the Railway Board decided to discontinue the package about a year ago. Over the next few months, IRCTC will be including short- and long-haul tours under this package.
A train to southern states will be launched from Kolkata on January 4 and another will go to Bhutan and the northeastern states on March 23.
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