Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on Thursday said it will introduce Vistadome tourist special train services in two popular routes — Guwahati-New Haflong in Assam and New Jalpaiguri-Alipurduar Junction in West Bengal from Saturday.
NFR general manager Anshul Gupta said the special trains will be run on the two routes considering the immense tourism potential in the sector.
The Vistadome coaches have large glass windows and glass roofs to provide 360 degree view of the open sky, mountains, tunnels, bridges, hills and lush green forests to the tourists. It will also have observation lounges for the purpose of site seeing, NFR official said.
The rotational seats of the coach are designed to provide added comfort to the passengers, the official added.
“Introduction of Vistadome trains are meant to help tourists experience the scenic beauty and to display the cultural heritage of the region during the unique journey. The joint effort with the tourism department will help to boost the tourism sector and as well as the local economy,” he said.
The special Vistadome train service between Guwahati and New Haflong will initially run on two days a week — on Wednesdays and Saturdays — with stops at Manderdisa and Maibong stations.
The train will depart from Guwahati at 6:35 am and reach New Haflong at 11:55 am, covering a distance of 269 kms through the North Cachar Hill region. During the return journey, the train will leave New Haflong at 5 pm to reach Guwahati at 10:45 pm, NFR chief public relations officer Guneet Kaur said.
The New Jalpaiguri- Alipurduar Junction Vistadome train will initially run three days a week — Friday, Saturday and Sunday, she said.
The train will depart from New Jalpaiguri at 7:20 am and reach Alipurduar Junction at 1 pm covering a distance of 169 km through the Dooars Hill region of north Bengal.
During the return journey, the train will leave Alipurduar Junction at 2 pm and reach New Jalpaiguri at 7 pm. The train will stop at Siliguri Junction, Sevok, New Mal Junction, Chalsa, Madarihat, Hasimara and Raja Bhat Khawa stations, Kaur said.
“Introduction of these Vistadome trains will help to generate additional revenue for the railway and also for local people of these areas. NFR hopes that the initiative to boost the tourism sector of Assam and north Bengal will be very well patronised by the local people as well as by visitors from other states,” she added. PTI
