On Tuesday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took to his verified Twitter handle and posted a video as the Ministry launched the first train under the 'Bharat Gaurav' initiative. Tweeting a video, the Minister wrote that the initiative will create 'opportunities for entrepreneurs to explore theme-based tourism'.
In a following tweet, Vaishnaw added, "3.5 lakh recruitments in Indian Railways between 2014-22 with more than 43000 avg annually. Approx. 1.5 lakh additional new recruitments are in the process at a steadfast pace. (sic)."
Earlier issuing a statement, the government had informed that the train will be operated between Coimbatore and Shirdi by a private operator.
The Ministry of Railways said, "With this, the 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. 1,100 passengers boarded the maiden roundtrip service from Coimbatore to Shirdi."
The newly launched 'Bharat Gaurav' scheme will allow the service providers to offer an all-inclusive package to tourists, including railway travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing, visits to historical or heritage sites, and tour guide arrangements.
The Ministry of Railways had stated that the train left Coimbatore North at 6 PM on Tuesday and will reach Sai Nagar in Shirdi at 7.25 AM on Thursday. The train is set to take a one-day halt, after which it will resume its journey from Shirdi on Friday, and is set to reach Coimbatore North on Saturday at 12 noon.
