Have you ever heard about ‘Ghost Tourism’? Many of us answer ‘No’. But Ghost Tourism at this haunted railway station in West Bengal is coming soon. Yes, it’s true. A paranormal research body, along with a local tour operator, will organise guided tours to this haunted railway station in West Bengal.

Many of us love visiting haunted places. Some do it for the love of adventure. There is a place in India, Begunkodar railway station in Purulia district of West Bengal where the ghost tourism is official. The place remained abandoned since four decades due to fears that it was haunted.

When asked about the reason, the locals say that in the 1960s, commuters spotted a woman in a white saree walking along the tracks on the Begunkodar station and saw her vanishing soon after. This became a daily routine and regular, forcing the railway employees refusing to work there. The only one who dared to go there died the next day.

In the year 2009, Mamata Banerjee, who was the railway minister that time, dismissed the reports, and thus reopened the station. Though few trains did stop here during the day time, the locals were scared to go near to the station. Understanding the station’s potential of attracting curious travellers, a Kolkata-based paranormal research body is all set to put Begunkodar in the state’s ghost tourism map.

The Systematic Paranormal Investigation and Research Team have tied up with a local tour operator Purulia Tourism to take visitors on a tour of the ghost-haunted railway station. The team will be offering the package that includes travel, hotel accommodation and a midnight visit to the station where a storytelling session on the history of Begunkodar is arranged.

“People want to experience the paranormal. We will try and give it to them. The station was closed for years after ghosts were spotted by the locals. So many stories are linked to it. Even now, locals don’t venture near the station after sundown,” Soumen Roy, a mechanical engineer, leading face of the paranormal research body, said.

“We invite everyone to experience the world of the paranormal. We will create the right atmosphere at the rail station. So far we have got a good response and the first trip will be announced soon,” he added.