Two tourist special trains with vistadome coaches in northeast

Scenic trips to Dooars and Haflong to enthral travelers from Saturday   

Two long-awaited tourist trains with vistadome coaches will start their journey from Saturday. One will be through the lush green forests and tea gardens of Dooars in north Bengal and another one to scenic destination of Haflong in Assam. Both trains will be run by Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).

The train between New Jalpaiguri (NJP) and Alipurduar Junction through Dooars has already become an attraction among tourists as well as curious locals with all seats booked for this weekend, railway officials said on Thursday. This tourist train will have a vistadome coach, two air-conditioned chair cars and two non-a/c chair cars, apart from a luggage car and a power coach.

“It will run three days a week — Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays,” the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official said. Train will leave New Jalpaiguri in morning at 7.20 and leave Alipurdar on return journey at 2.00 pm.

He said that the vistadome coach with a 44-seat capacity will have a fare of Rs 770, the a/c chair cars will cost between Rs 300 and 400 per seat and a non-a/c seat will cost only Rs 85.

The train between Guwahati and Haflong will run on Wednesdays and Saturdays. This train will have a vistadome coach and four air-conditioned chair cars. This journey will take more than five hours, one way. Tourist special train will leave Guwahati in morning at 6.35 and on return journey will leave Haflong at 5 p.m.

The vistadome coach has huge windows and transparent roofs thus allowing a hindrance-free view of the surroundings.

“There are jungles, wildlife and tea gardens on the route between NJP and Alipurduar, thus providing a tourist with the opportunity to view the natural beauty of Dooars during their travel,” the NFR official said.

The scenic route passes through the foot of the Darjeeling Himalayas at Sivok, crossing the Teesta river, the tea gardens of Bagrakot, Oodlabari and Dalgaon to name a few and the dense forests at Chalsa, Madarihat and Raja Bhat Khawa.