Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

A thrilling experience for visitors atop Kailasagiri

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

Joy ride: The circular train at Kailasagiri, a popular tourist spot, in Visakhapatnam.

VISAKHAPATNAM: The circular train has become the hot favourite of visitors to Kailasagiri. Rightly so, it’s the only hi-tech circular train in India, and, perhaps that runs from point to point around a hill.

The festival season saw a heavy rush of to

urists for the circular train. On Wednesday, the tickets for the 6.30 p.m. trip were sold out much before 5.30 p.m.

The main station on the hill was full of tourists waiting for their turn to buy tickets.

Once inside the train, many tourists, especially those from West Bengal, were seen filming the picturesque surroundings and also their near and dear ones travelling in the modern train.

Ajay and B.R. Vinay Babu were excited about the circular train.

“We haven’t seen such a train anywhere else in India,” they said. They were on a 10-day pleasure trip along with their parents from Bangalore.

Hindi film actor Dev Anand was overawed by the beauty of Visakhapatnam after he took a ride on the train during his visit to the city last year. He had then expressed his desire to produce films in the city.

The circular train was inaugurated on May 4, 2007. “We have invested about Rs.4.5 crores on the project. It’s a long term investment and in the absence of quick returns bankers are not supporting further development activities on the train project. The Government should create a fund for the benefit of investors like us,” Chief Executive Officer of the Circular Train project Velagapudi Gopalakrishna Prasad told The Hindu.

The view on side of the hill has been blocked due to unchecked growth of waste plants.

“We have done landscaping and raised ornamental plants along the track. But the waste plants blocking the view is beyond the area given to us and clearing them should be the responsibility of the authorities concerned,” he said.

The narrow gauge train sports classy imported interiors.

“We plan to add one more coach by January 2009 and also operate the second and third stations by then. Passengers, who board the train at the main station can alight at the other two stations spend time there and catch the next train within an hour.”

Mr. Gopalakrishna Prasad says the company has given top priority to the safety of travellers by hiring the services of retired Railway drivers to operate the train.

Five gang men work on the track, maintaining it on a daily basis, throughout the year, he says.

He calls for concerted efforts on the part of the AP Tourism Development Corporation to popularise Visakhapatnam as a place of national and international tourist importance.

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