Railways to launch Ramayana Express from November

The ‘Sri Ramayana Express’, will start from Delhi on November 14 and will reach Rameswaram in 16 days.

The Indian Railways is planning to launch a special train on November 14, along the route taken by Lord Ram in the Hindu epic Ramayana. This 800-seater tourist train, named ‘Sri Ramayana Express’, will start from Delhi and reach Rameswaram in 16 days.

According to a report by The Hindustan Times, Sri Ramayana Express will start from Delhi’s Safdarjung station and make its first halt at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. The train will then cover important religious locations such as Nandigram, Sitamarhi, Janakpur, Varanasi, Prayag, Shringaverpur, Chitrakoot, Nasik, Hampi and Rameshwaram.

The Railways will also cover all cost of road-trips, sightseeing, meals and accommodation in dharamshalas at these places, the report suggests. Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

The report also quoted an IRCTC official saying that the cost per person would be around Rs 15,120. Tourists who wish to complete the full journey will have an option of taking a flight from Chennai to Colombo, Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, tourists will be able to visit Ramboda, Chilaw and Nuwara Elliya.

The report also cited Rajni Hasija, Director – Tourism, IRCTC as saying, “We see good revenue on this circuit. Right now date of first train has been announced and after seeing the response, we will decide whether to run the train once or twice in a year.”