Arunachal Pradesh: Bharat Gaurav tourist train arrives at Naharlagun

Itanagar, Mar 25: The Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC tourist train taking the first batch of travellers from the country and abroad arrived at Naharlagun railway station near here on Saturday.

The specially designed tourist train themed “North East Discovery: Beyond Guwahati”, after covering its first destination in Assam, was on Friday flagged off by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Union Minister of State for Railways, Raosaheb Patil Danve via video conferencing from Guwahati railway station for its onward journey to Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh, the Ministry of Railways said.

“An honour to virtually join flagging off of Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train themed on 'North East Discovery' from Guwahati to Naharlagun in the presence of Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Patil Danve, GM NFR Anshul Gupta & other Railways officials.

Bharat Gaurav Train is vision of PM Narendra Modi Ji who is working tirelessly to provide seamless connectivity to North East. The train showcases Govt's Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat & Dekho Apna Desh initiatives,” Khandu said in a statement released on social media.

The train, specially designed to cover the North Eastern states, began its journey from Delhi’s Safdarjung station on March 21 last.

The 14-night and 15-day tour is an opportunity to see magnificent beauty, culture & tradition of North East. “Request onboard first batch of tourists from country and abroad to take memorable experience back home and be our brand ambassadors,” Khandu has said.

Besides Guwahati and Naharlagun, the train during its fortnight-long Northeast tour will cover Sivasagar, Furkating and Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala and Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya.

Bharat Gaurav is the first such tourism special train for the North-Eastern states and it is in line with the Government of India’s “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat” and “Dekho Apna Desh” initiatives to promote domestic tourism, NF Railway sources said.