With hospitality and discipline in one of the coaches as its key traits, the Panchavati Express has chugged straight into the Limca Book of Records for being the ‘adarsh coach’.

This train was the first to have a lady attendant or ‘civic director’ convincing people to maintain cleanliness in the coach. The concept was the brainchild of Bipin Gandhi, president of Rail Parishad, started in 2001. “We thought there was a need to create awareness among passengers about cleanliness and general lessons on civility. We have members who volunteer and convince people not to misbehave while on the train,” he said.

 

Priya Tuljapurkar, a Marathi actor, works as the civic attendant whenever she travels between Nashik and Mumbai. “I travel between Nashik and Mumbai at least twice a week. It gives me pleasure of being of some help to my co-passengers,” she said. “In August last year, we sent our nomination to Limca Book of Records. After various inspections, we received a letter on March 4 stating that the coach has been included,” said Gandhi.