Religious tourism on fast track
The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) will flag off the Panj Takhts Yatra Express.
Aluxury train covering all the leading Sikh shrines in the country will be flagged off in December this year. An agreement has been signed between the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation ( IRCTC) and the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board ( PHTPB) to run this train, VB
Kumar, Executive Director, PHTPB informed.
According to Kumar, Punjab Chief Minister
Parkash Singh Badal has approved the name of the train as Panj Takhts Yatra Express. It would flag off in December this year.
Attempting to attract two fast-growing population segments in India — followers of Sikhism and a fast expanding inbound tourism market in India, the initiative
The train would cover Akal Takht, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Takht Sri Patna Sahib and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib
aims at targetting the upscale luxury segment in India along with visitors from source markets such as UK and Canada.
The train would cover Akal Takht in Amritsar, Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi, Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur, Takht Sri Patna Sahib in Patna and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra. Starting from Amritsar, the train will embark on a nine-day journey via Delhi, Agra and Gwalior and culminate at Nanded.
Throwing light on the new agreement, Kumar revealed, “The IRCTC agreement with PHTPB is for three years. According to the pact, the train will see a minimum of at least two runs in each financial year. The first trip of FY 2012-13 will be tentative in December.” The second trip will soon follow suit around March 2013. The launch dates, however, need to be finalised by the railways department, he added. This train is the same train that is running on the Buddhist circuit as well. We have chartered the same train for the journey to the five Takhts. The train will be a Rajdhani rake type with a capacity of around 240 seats. Hence, the owner and operator for both the religious circuit trains is IRCTC. “We are the marketing partner for IRCTC. Going forward, PHTPB has also roped in a private marketing firm – The Luxury Trains – for this endeavour,” he confirmed.