The Union Ministry of Railways will undertake a ‘North East Discovery’ tour via a special deluxe tourist train that will visit Assam, Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya – but the latter will be via bus.
The idea behind the special service is to “promote the relatively untraversed North Eastern states of India,” a press release said today.
The train will commence its journey from New Delhi on November 16 and cover Guwahati, Sivasagar, Jorhat and Kaziranga in Assam, Unakoti, Agartala and Udaipur in Tripura, Dimapur and Kohima in Nagaland and Shillong and Sohra in Meghalaya over a 15-day tour.
However, decades-long opposition to the coming of railways means that there is no train service to either Shillong or Sohra.
The passengers, who will be otherwise treated to a deluxe ride on a train that boasts of modern features like two dining cars, shower cubicles, air conditioning, washrooms with sensor-based functions, foot massager and mini library, will have to decamp at Guwahati and travel into Meghalaya by bus. All the meals, the release added, will be vegetarian only, somewhat ironic in the meat-loving North East.
The route will take the passengers first to Assam, down to Tripura, up to Nagaland and then to Guwahati where the bus ride to Shillong (via a stop at Umiam Lake) and Sohra departs from. The passengers then return to Guwahati railway station for the return journey to Delhi.
