The Shri Jagannath Yatra Train embarked on its maiden journey after the special tourist train was flagged off by Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Dharmendra Pradhan and G Kishan Reddy. The train was flagged off from Safdarjung station in Delhi on Wednesday.
In its 8-day-long journey, the tourist train will cover famous pilgrimage sites in four states- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.
With a capacity of 600 passengers, the train will run under the Bharat Gaurav initiative of the Indian Railways.
Tourists can board the train at Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Tundla, Etawah, Kanpur and Lucknow railway stations. The train has a total of 10 AC three-tier coaches.
The first stoppage of train is Varanasi, where tourists will visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and witness the aarti performed on the banks of Ganga.
The train will then stop at Jasidih in Jharkhand, from where the tourists will head towards the Baidyanath Dham Temple. It will then travel to Puri, where a two-night stay will be arranged for the tourists in hotels.
In Odisha, the tourists will visit the Jagannath Temple, the Sun Temple in Konark and famous temples of Bhubaneswar.
The last destination of the train will be Gaya, where the tourists will visit the Vishnupad Temple. The train will return to Delhi on the eighth day of its journey on February 1 covering a distance of around 4,000 km.
Vegetarian meals will be served to the passengers in the train. The IRCTC has fixed a starting price of Rs 17,655 per person for the eight-day journey.