RailEnquiry

Indian Railways' subsidiary Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Thursday announced launch of special chartered rail tours for the first time for the people from Assam and North East."Under this scheme, special coaches would be attached to regular trains from Guwahati. The package would include fare for rail and hotel, food and sight-seeing, as a one-stop solution," IRCTC) regional manager Kaushik Banerjee told reporters here.He said the first tour, a Durga Puja special, will start from Guwahati on October 19 in the Kanchanjunga Express. It will be a five night/six days package to Kolkata and cost Rs8,149 per person on twin sharing basis.This will be followed by a 'Spiritual Odisha' tour which will start on November 22, followed by 'Royal Rajasthan' on December 6 and a tour of 'Delhi-Agra-Jaipur Golden Triangle' from December 29."Each tour will have a capacity of 65-68 and we are positive about 100% booking. From 2013, we plan to further diversify it and cover more parts of the country," Banerjee said.Besides discounts for those who book early, the IRCTC chartered tours willinclude insurance cover without any additional cost, he said.Banerjee said IRCTC is also planning to conduct around 35-37 package tours for students from Assam to New Delhi and Agra in the next couple of years."We have already conducted three such tours for students of Assam under a tie-up with the state government under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan. Now we plan to take another 2,600 students in next year or two," he said.