My Experience with IRCTC rail tourism.

I have many times visited Shirdi(the abode of SaiBaba) by train from Delhi with family. Usually we either on our way from Delhi to Bangalore or in return stop over at Shirdi as this is almost mid way between the two cities. The other advantage is the train Karnataka Express has a stop at Kopergaon which is the nearest railway station to Shirdi.

Last few years It has been a very big problem getting reserved tickets. The waitlisted tickets will not get confirmed especially the ones from Shirdi(reason not known , but my interpretation is that the quota from that station comes into picture.)

Because of this we were waiting for the right time and it came in the form of the IRCTC’s rail tourism package. Just there was this email in my inbox which had caught my attention.

Visited their website and found the details good enough to book and go ahead. The pricing was OK and there were two packages, one is standard and the other one is comfort. The basic difference between the two is only the train travel – in case of the standard one it is through the sleeper class and in comfort it is by the 3tier AC. Also the site has mentioned the accommodation in Hotel Bhagyalaxmi, which we had stayed earlier also.(this is also one of the factors which has influenced the decision).

The itinerary   was also well planned one. This includes the half a day trip to Shani signapur by taxi. Website said all the meals included in the price. The booking is through the IRCTC site only and it is the usual type of process. After booking we will get only confirmation and booking voucher.But the ticket with the birth/seat and coach numbers gets emailed to us only two days ahead of the date of journey. They also mention that the tour manager will get in touch by phone two days ahead of the journey but it did not happen in my case. But yes I have received an SMS from them about the train no and other details.

We have boarded the train and it was as usual a comfortable journey. Reached late by 2 hours to Kopargaon station. Once alighted on the platform we have seen a driver with placard of IRCTC. Just hopped into the taxi and straight off to Shirdi- hotel Bhagyalaxmi.

The hotel is completely renovated inside  and could not make out that this was the same Bhagyalaxmi. The advantage of this hotel is its proximity to the main temple and Dwarakamai. Also there are a lot of eating joints between this hotel and temple in case anyone need to try otherwise this hotel has a restaurant inside.  

The restaurant had served buffet for the IRCTC package tourists and it was a decent meal. All the meals were included in the package and it was good.

Day 1 : Reach Shidri by evening , had darshan and relax.

Day 2: Morning the taxi was provided by IRCTC from Shirdi to Shanisignapur and back, which will take about 5 hours.we have not used this service as we opted to stay back at Shirdi itself. (one can be back to Shirdi by lunch time and relax for some time and may go evening Darshan to the mandir).

Day 3: we had been picked up from the Hotel by 12noon as the train back to Delhi is at about 2PM from Kopergaon station. We had our lunch in the hotel(part of the  package) and left for the station.   

The whole experience of travelling through this package trip is a good and I feel the price is right for the services provided.  Since this was IRCTC operated tour I had my apprehensions about the quality of service but they have done a good job.