Indian Railways launches first private train on Coimbatore - Sainagar Route

Coimbatore, India (Urban Transport News): India’s first private train, aimed at promoting domestic tourism, under the Bharat Gaurav scheme has been flagged off by Indian Railways from Coimbatore on June 14, 2022. 

The Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi will commence its journey at 18:00 hours and reach Sainagar Shirdi at 07:25 hours with stoppages at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram, Mantralayam Road and Wadi. During the onward journey from Coimbatore, this Bharat Gaurav Train has a stoppage at Mantralayam Road station for 5 hours to facilitate darshan at Mantralayam temple.

In the return direction, the Bharat Gaurav Train from Sainagar Shirdi to Coimbatore North will commence at 07:25 hours and reach Coimbatore North at 12:00 hours with stoppages at Wadi, Dharmavaram, Yelahanka, Salem, Erode and Tiruppur.

“Railway has leased this train to a service provider for a period of 2 years. The service provider has refurbished the coach seats. At least three trips will be done per month. It has a total of 20 coaches including 1st, 2nd & 3rd class AC coaches and sleeper coaches,” said B Guganesan, the Chief Public Relations Officer of Southern Railway.

This train will be operated by a Coimbatore-based private company South Star Rail which is part of the Conglomerate Group - Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Ltd. The company has paid Rs 1 Crore as a security deposit to Southern Railway for the rake with a composition of 20 coaches. Besides, the company has paid Rs 27.79 lakh for annual right to Use charges and Quarterly fixed haulage charges of Rs 76.77 lakh. In addition, Variable haulage charges of Rs 38.22 lakhs also has been collected towards the current round trip.

From the operation of this Bharat Gaurav train, Southern Railway would get a total fixed revenue of Rs 3.34 crores per annum, i.e., an annual Right to use charges of Rs 27.79 lakhs and Rs 3.07 Crores towards Fixed haulage charges per annum. Besides this, the variable haulage charge of Rs 38.22 lakhs for the 5-day trip from Coimbatore to Sainagar, Shirdi and back will accrue to Southern Railway. Similar variable charges will be collected for every trip depending upon the itinerary. All charges are without GST.

The company has refurbished the interiors of the coaches and all the coaches will be manned with round-the-clock cleaning staff and a whole team of service professionals to offer passengers a wholesome experience. A public address system has been provided in all coaches for regular communication, and playing of devotional songs and mantras. In addition to the option of offering the option of exclusive transportation services, the registered service provider also offers a package fare which includes transportation from Coimbatore to Shirdi and back, VIP darshan, bus arrangement, and air-conditioned accommodation, facilitation by the tour guide, etc.

Some other features of the Bharat Gaurav Train are-

• There will be a Doctor on board to attend to any emergency
• There are Private securities engaged along with the Railway Police Force to protect us from any kind of harm
• There will be on board electricians and AC Mechanic and Fire and Safety Officers
• The train is maintained by branded housekeeping service providers who will clean the utility areas at frequent intervals and the caterers are experienced and rich in holding the traditional vegetarian menus.
• The coaches are fitted with high bass-sounding speakers and an on-rail Radio Jockey to keep the passengers entertained during the journey. There will be devotional songs, spiritual stories and live interviews to keep the journey pleasant.
• Completely Toxic-free and Smoke-free.

Indian Railways launched the operation of the theme-based Bharat Gaurav train in the month of November 2021. The objective of this theme is to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world, through Bharat Gaurav Trains. This scheme also aims to leverage the core strengths of the professionals in the tourism sector to run theme-based trains to tap the vast tourism potential of India.

At present, IRCTC is already running several tourist circuit trains on Railways. With the introduction of this policy, all tourist circuit trains w.e.f 01-04-2022 shall be operated as per the guidelines issued under this policy. This Bharat Gaurav scheme will now help in roping in more tour operators with professional experience and will give a boost to the tourism sector in the country.