Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will operate special trains for visits to various pilgrimage sites over the next 3 months - throughout the festive season.
These trains will run from September to December, with ticket booking available from stations including Agra, Gwalior, and Jhansi. Currently, IRCTC has announced two trains with seating options from these stations.
More trains are expected to be added soon.
Next Pilgrimage Train Starts on November 5
The next special pilgrimage train will begin on November 5. This train will cover the Ganga Sagar-Puri route and will start from Delhi Safdarjung station. Passengers can board the train from Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Ayodhya.
The 10-day, 9-night package will include visits to major temples such as Mahabodhi and Vishnupad in Gaya, Jagannath Temple and Konark Sun Temple in Puri, Gangasagar and Kalighat Kali Temple in Kolkata, Baidyanath Dham in Jasidih, Kashi Vishwanath in Varanas and Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
The train has 640 sleeper berths, 70 third AC and 50 second AC berths.
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Seven Jyotirlinga Train Starts November 18
Another special train for the Seven Jyotirlinga pilgrimage will start from Rishikesh on November 18.
Passengers can board from Rishikesh, Haridwar, Moradabad, Bareilly, Hardoi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Urai, Jhansi and Lalitpur.
Gwalior passengers can board from Jhansi.
The journey will include visits to Omkareshwar, Mahakaleshwar, Somnath, Nageshwar, Dwarka, Bhimashankar, Trimbakeshwar, and Girnarewar.
Earlier, the Ganga Sagar-Puri train had also run on September 13 and included boarding from Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Ayodhya.
According to IRCTC Chief Regional Officer Ajit Sinha, religious tourism increases during winter, as the weather is pleasant for travel.
Considering this, more trains are likely to run in December.
So far, IRCTC operated one train in September, none in October due to festivals and two trains are scheduled in November.
More trains are expected in December.
