The Railways Ministry said it has issued the ‘Bharat Gaurav Trains’ policy with the objective to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world through theme-based tourist circuit trains.
So far, two Bharat Gaurav trains have been operated with the following itinerary: Coimbatore-Mantralayam-Shirdi-Coimbatore; and Delhi Safdarjung-Ayodhya-Buxar-Janakpur (Nepal)-Varanasi- Nasik-Hospet-Rameshwaram- Kanchipuram-Bhadrachalam Road-Delhi, Safdarjung.
Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw informed about the Bharat Gaurav Trains’ policy release in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The Indian Railways’ southern zone last month flagged off the country’s first privately-run train under the Bharat Gaurav scheme. Around 11,00 passengers boarded the maiden round trip service from Coimbatore to Shirdi.
“The Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi will commence at 18:00 hours on 14th June 2022 (Tuesday) and reach Sainagar Shirdi at 07:25 hours on 16th June 2022 (Thursday) with stoppages at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram, Mantralayam Road and Wadi,” the Ministry of Railways had said in a statement.
The Bharat Gaurav policy, launched in November last year, allows private players to operate trains on theme-based circuits.
South Star Rail is the registered service provider that operates this train. The Coimbatore-based entity is a registered company and is part of the group — Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt Ltd. The service provider has paid Rs 1 crore as security deposit to Southern Railway for the rake with a composition of 20 coaches.
