In a bid to promote tourism, Railways will be launching 16 special 'Bharat Tirth' trains connecting popular tourist sites as also pilgrimage centres in different parts of the country.
"The running of Bharat Tirth is to emphasise our unity in diversity and bring to reality Kabiguru's (Rabindranath Tagore) words in our national anthem Punjab Sindhu Gujarat Maratha, Dravida Utkala Banga, Vindhya Himachal Yamuna Ganga," Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said.
Presenting the 2010-11 budget in Lok Sabha, she said the trains are proposed to run on the following routes:
1 Howrah-Gaya-Agra-Mathura-Vrindavan-New Delhi-Haridwar-Varanasi-Howrah;
2 Howrah-Chennai-Puducherry-Madurai-Rameswaram- Kanyakumari-Bangalore-Mysore-Chennai-Howrah;
3 Howrah-Vizag-Hyderabad-Araku-Howrah;
4 Howrah-Varanasi-Jammu Tawi-Amritsar-Haridwar- Mathura-Vrindavan-Allahabad-Howrah;
5 Howrah-Ajmer-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Bikaner-Jaipur-Howrah;
6 Mumbai-Pune-Tirupati-Kancheepuram-Rameswaram- Madurai-Kanyakumari-Pune-Mumbai;
7 Pune-Jaipur-Nathdwara-Ranakpur-Jaipur-Mathura- Agra-Haridwar-Amritsar-Jammu Tawi-Pune
8 Pune-Ratnagiri-Goa-Bangalore-Mysore-Tirupati-Pune;
9 Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi- Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad;
10 Bhopal-Dwaraka-Somnath-Udaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur- Jaipur-Mathura-Vrindavan-Amritsar-Jammu Tawi-Bhopal.
11 Bhopal-Tirupati-Kancheepuram-Rameswaram-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Bhopal
12 Madurai-Chennai-Kopargaon-Mantrayalam-Chennai- Madurai
13 Madurai-Erode-Pune-Ujjain-Veraval-Nashik-Hyderabad- Chennai-Madurai
14 Madurai-Chennai-Jaipur-Delhi-Mathura-Vrindavan- Allahabad-Varanasi-Gaya-Chennai-Madurai
15 Madurai-Varanasi-Gaya-Patna Sahib-Allahabad- Haridwar-Chandigarh-Kurukshtra-Amritsar-Delhi-Madurai
16 Madurai-Mysore-Goa-Mumbai-Aurangabad-Hyderabad- Madurai.
Banerjee said the detailed itinerary of these trains will be advertised from time to time.
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