S Senior officials of the Southern Railway on Sunday inspected the train to be operated between Coimbatore – Shirdi by a private operator under the ‘Bharat Gaurav’ scheme of Indian Railways. The first weekly trip to Shirdi is scheduled to commence on June 14. B.G. Mallya, General Manager of the Southern Railway, A. Gautam Srinivas, Divisional Railway Manager of Salem Division and other senior officials inspected the train at Podanur junction. The Bharat Gaurav train will operate circuit tour in the Coimbatore – Shirdi sector via Mantralayam.
Southern Railway would provide loco pilots and ticket checking staff for the train which will depart Coimbatore on Tuesday. As per the schedule announced by the operator, the train will reach Mantralayam on Wednesday afternoon and Shirdi in the evening. After the night stay, devotees will be taken to the Shirdi Sai Baba Temple on Thursday morning and the train will depart Shirdi in the evening. The train will reach Coimbatore on Friday evening. The train will have stoppages at Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Bengaluru, Mantralayam and Shirdi. Salem Division sources said the bookings for the circuit tour are done by the private operator. They said that Mr. Mallya gave various instructions to the private operator on conducting the services and norms to be followed under the Bharat Gaurav scheme. When contacted, a booking agent said that the bookings for the maiden trip were being done manually through its office near the Sai Baba temple at Saibaba Colony, Coimbatore. He added that an online booking facility will be arranged soon.
