Patna, April 26: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will organise an 11-day tour to north India as part of their “Bharat Tirth” programme.
The train will start its journey from Howrah on May 14 and reach Patna the next day. After reaching Varanasi, Vaishno Devi, Amritsar, Hardwar, Mathura, Vrindavan and Allahabad, the train will be back in Patna on May 25.
Anand Kumar Jha, the regional manager of IRCTC, Patna, said: “We have tried to provide a comfortable journey for passengers with quality food and homely accommodation.”
According to the budget and demand of passengers, the tour has been divided into three categories — budget, standard and comfort.
A single person fare along with lodging and food in the budget category comes at Rs 5,650, while the standard category will cost Rs 12,700. The comfort category (3AC) will cost Rs 20,580.
Booking for the tour started on April 20 for which IRCTC set up booking centres in Patna, Hajipur, Samastipur, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Mughalsarai and Dhanbad.
Jha added that in each category, the number of seats has been set according to the demand of passengers.
While in the comfort category, there are 64 seats, in the standard category, there are 192 seats and in the budget category, 60 seats.
Jha said: “We were planning to increase the number of seats but because of unavailability of seats owing to summer vacation, the number of seats could not be increased.”
Jha said: “If a person plans to go to Vaishno Devi, it will cost him about Rs 3,000, which includes railway fare, lodging, food and other expenses. However, by spending just Rs 5,650, a person can visit Vaishno Devi, Amritsar, Hardwar, Mathura and other places.”
For tourist convenience, IRCTC has also planned night halts at important places. There will be a halt at Vaishno Devi and Amritsar where passengers can visit the Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and the Wagah border.
However, for passengers, who cancel their bookings in the last hour, there will be deductions in the amount according to terms and conditions of the railways.
