The first service of the theme-based Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi started its journey on 14 June.

With this, Southern Railway becomes the first zone in Indian Railways to get the first Registered service provider under the ”Bharat Gaurav” Scheme and commence the operations of the maiden service from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi.

A total of 1100 passengers boarded the maiden roundtrip service from Coimbatore to Shirdi on 14 June.

The Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore North to Sainagar Shirdi commenced at 18:00 hours on 14 June and will reach Sainagar Shirdi at 07:25 hours on 16 June 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 on 17 June and reach Coimbatore North at 12:00 hours on 18 June with stoppages at Wadi, Dharmavaram, Yelahanka, Salem, Erode and Tiruppur.

South Star Rail is the registered service provider that operates this Bharat Gaurav Train from Coimbatore to Shirdi and back. This Coimbatore-based company is a registered company and it is part of the conglomerate group – Future Gaming & Hotel Services Pvt. Limited.

The service provider 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 lakh also has been collected towards the current round trip. All these charges are excluding GST.

From operation of this Bharat Gaurav train, Southern Railway would get a total fixed revenue of Rs. 3.34 crore per annum, i.e., an annual Right to use charges of Rs 27.79 lakh (exl GST) and Rs 3.07 crore towards Fixed haulage charges p.a. In addition variable haulage charge of Rs 38.22 lakh (excl GST) 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.

The registered service provider has refurbished the interiors of the coaches and all the coaches will be manned with round-the-clock cleaning staff and the whole team of service professionals to offer passengers a wholesome experience.

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, air-conditioned accommodation, facilitation by tour guide, etc.

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 of the tourism sector to run theme-based trains to tap the vast tourist potential of India.