Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited's (IRCTC) ambitious plan of promoting religious tourism among transit tourists in Chandigarh, announced in May earlier this year, has seemingly fallen flat as the national body has not been able to arrive at an understanding with tourism boards and corporations in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh as per a report in TOI by Abhijit Prashar.

The proposal entailed ferrying railway passengers from New Delhi to Chandigarh and previous arrangements made with tourism boards of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh to promote religious tourism and facilitate transporting tourists through tourist buses and taxis. Since most of the religious places in the region are not properly connected to Chandigarh through railway tracks, it was felt that tourist buses and taxis, arranged by the tourism development boards and corporations of respective states, would prove to be a better alternative.

However, even after four months of having announced that the project would soon be underway, sources at IRCTC said the tourism boards and corporations of partner states were not very keen on the project and therefore, it required a re-think at IRCTC level. An IRCTC official said, "The project would have been helpful in boosting tourism in the region and because there is hardly any linkage between Chandigarh and religious places close-by." The destinations which were identified for the project were Kurukshetra, Fatehgarh Sahib, Naina Devi, Anandpur Sahib, Chintpurni and Chamunda Devi and Jwalamukhi Devi.

Sources in Punjab heritage and tourism promotion board said the plans had been discussed at a very initial stage and they expected to hold a few more meetings. A senior official said, "With the Bharat Darshan Train not connected to Chandigarh, this new project would be beneficial to show the religious and cultural heritage of the state to tourists. We are looking at tying up with IRCTC whenever they come up with the proposal."