Row over Railway Ticket Counter @ Shirdi Temple

[rOhit beHaL]

A Passenger Reservation System (PRS) for Railway tickets was located @ the Shirdi Temple premises,
just adjacent to the Donation Counter & Book Stall opposite the Parayan Hall, so that
the moment the devotees came out of the Shrine, they could access it to confirm
the status of their trains / book tickets instead of going all the way to the station.
Officials at this counter also helped devotees plan their stay in Shirdi.
Around 700 - 2000 tickets used to be booked at the PRS counter daily.

But, as on 05th Feb`2014,
this PRS counter has now been shut for over a month now after the Central Railway (CR) authorities
& the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust`Shirdi, failed to reach a consensus over relocation of the center.
And this apparent tiff between the Railway authorities & the Saibaba Sansthan Trust`Shirdi, has cost the
devotees as they will now have to travel to Shirdi railway station 2 kms away from the temple to book their tickets.

The Closed Ticket counter falls under the Central Railways (CR) Solapur jurisdiction.
Senior divisional commercial manager of Solapur, S.Q. Husain said,
“The counters were abruptly shut down by the temple trust and we were not given any kind of intimation.”
Mohan Yadav, PRO`Shirdi Trust said, “We have provided railway counters only a few minutes from the original spot.”



CR sources claimed that the counter was shut after officials from both sides argued over a particular issue.
They say that the Trust are giving them an alternate accommodation but with lot of pre-conditions
and that too at a distance from the temple. And the alternative accommodation also seems to be disputed.
While the CR authorities claim that the building in which the new PRS counter has been proposed
is more than 500 meters away from the temple, the Trust officials say that the structure is just 100 meters away.

Sai Baba Temple Trust officials claimed they had to ask the CR to relocate the counter due to security reasons.
“The Intelligence Bureau asked us to clear unnecessary crowding wherever possible
owing to the bomb threat the Temple had received in October 2013.
For us, security is a major concern,” said Ajay More from Saibaba Sansthan Trust.
Officials added that unlike their prasad counters, crowds would gather around the PRS counter.

Phone numbers of Railway Stations for the benefit of Sai Devotees:

Nagarsol Railway Enquiry       :   02559-261253
Kopergaon Railway Enquiry    :   02423-222268
Manmad Railway Enquiry        :   02591-222242
Nasik Railway Enquiry            :   0253-2461274
Sainagar Railway Enquiry       :   02423-258064













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rOhitbeHaL