Southern Railway has operated 50 Bharat Gaurav trains to pilgrim centres. A total of 24,848 people have travelled on these trains since the first service was flagged from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi in June.
The 50th train “Ganga Snan Yatra‟ Diwali Special service from Kochuveli to Prayagraj-Varanasi started its journey on November 9.
The services, operated by private firms using rakes and crew provided by Railways, has covered popular tourist and pilgrimage destinations like Sai Nagar Shirdi, Kashi, Prayagraj, New Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Triveni Sangam, Varanasi Akshardham, Darshan of Krishna Bhoomi, Govardhan, Gokulam, Parlivaidhyanath, Somnath, Hyderabad, Mantralayam, Kumbakonam, Kochi, Gaya, Ayodhya, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Puri, Mysuru, Hampi, Ajanta/Ellora caves, Goa, Ekta Nagar, Statue of Unity at Kevadia in Gujarat, Haridwar, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Rameswaram, Madurai and Kodaikanal.
Approximately 1,200 boats will operate in the Ganga on Dev Deepawali, offering tourists a spectacular view of the illuminated ghats. A meeting has already been conducted with boat operators to inform them about the guidelines for the event. To effectively manage the crowd, barricading will be set up at five key locations – Maidagin, Assi, Godaulia, Bhadau Chungi, and Ramapura.
Southern Railway has recorded a revenue of INR 34 crore from the operation of these 50 services, said a press release.
The zone has allotted seven Linke Hofmann Busch rakes to the four registered service providers, including IRCTC. Of the 11 companies that have registered to run the trains, four are operating the services.
With the success of Bharat Gaurav trains, Railways will leverage the potential of the tourism sector to run more theme-based trains for pilgrims and tourists.
