Special train to temple town Shirdi in India

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan today flagged off the Dadar-Sainagar Superfast Express and also laid the foundation stone for an airport in the temple town of Shirdi, Ahmedagar, Maharashtra, around 250 km from Mumbai.

Over 30,000 devotees visit the Saibaba temple everyday and on Thursdays and Sundays, the number goes up to 70,000 whilst the shrine sees around 150,000 people on Diwali and New Year’s Day. Improving the infrastructure of this pilgrimage centre is expected to go a long way in making travel more convenient for visitors.

The Rs2.6 billion airport is expected to be operational by November 2011. A 280-acre site has been chosen for the airport, located 15 kms from the shrine.

Chavan said that around 2,000 devotees are likely to take a flight to Shirdi daily and several airlines have already expressed interest in catering to them.

Ownership of the airport will be vested in the Shri Saibaba Airport Charitable Trust to be formed soon with the chief minister as its chairman. The Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan Trust that manages the temple will make a contribution towards the construction of the airport.

Train services will start from Saturday onwards with the tri-weekly Superfast train leaving Dadar at 9.45 pm every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and arrive at Sainagar station, Shirdi, at 3.55 am the next morning, in time for devotees to attend the first prayer at 5 am. On the return journey, the train will leave Sainagar at 10 am every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive in Dadar at 4.05 pm the same day. It will halt at Kopergaon, Manmad, Nashik Road, Igatpuri, Kalyan and Thane stations. The fares for the six-hour journey will be Rs 530 for air-conditioned first class, Rs 131 for sleeper class and Rs 101 for the general class.

Chavan also flagged off the extension of Manmad-Kakinada, Manmad-Secunderabad and Manmad-Vijaywada trains to Sainagar. With competition from rail and air connectivity, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will also upgrade its bus services to attract more passengers.