Roads and Buildings Minister BC Janardhan Reddy flagged off the weekly Tirupati–Sainagar Shirdi–Tirupati express train from Tirupati railway station in Tirupati on Tuesday. | Photo credit: KV Poornachandra Kumar
BC Minister for Roads and Buildings, Infrastructure and Investments Janardhan Reddy formally flagged off Train No. 17425/17426 Tirupati – Sainagar Shirdi – Tirupati Weekly Express here on Tuesday (December 9, 2025).
District Collector S. Venkateswar, MLC Balli Kalyan Chakravarthy, Tirupati MLA Arani Srinivasulu, TTD Board members G. Bhanuprakash Reddy and Sanjay Kumar Srivastava were also on the programme.
Union Minister of State for Railways V. Somanna, Rajya Sabha Member M. Raghunatha Reddy and Tirupati MP M. Gurumoorthy were also present at the event through video conferencing from New Delhi.
According to reports, the train connects the two spiritual destinations and is likely to boost religious tourism and will pass through four states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The train departs from Tirupati at 04:00 on Sunday and reaches Sainagar Shirdi (Maharashtra) at 10:45 on Monday. For the return journey, the train starts at 7:35 PM on Monday and reaches Tirupati at 1:30 AM on Wednesday. The train consists of eighteen coaches, including two double-decker AC coaches, four three-row AC coaches, six sleeper coaches and four general coaches.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Somanna termed it a “historic day” for passengers intending to travel between the two religious destinations as the train has 31 stops, including major cities like Nellore, Guntur, Secunderabad, Bidar and Manmad. “Apart from Tirupati and Shirdi, the train also provides a connection to the famous Shiva temple at Parli Vaijnath in Maharashtra,” he added.
Highlighting the development of railways in Andhra Pradesh since 2014, Mr. Somanna highlighted the addition of 1,580 km of newly electrified railway track, reconstruction of 73 stations under AMRIT with an outlay of ₹ 3,125 crore, construction of 800 flyovers and bridges and introduction of 110 bridges, 4 Vande Bharat (eight pairs) train bridges and six Amrit Bharat (three pairs).
Regarding development in Tirupati region, he pointed to the development of Tirupati station under AMRIT with ₹312 crore, doubling in Tirupati–Pakala–Katpadi section, introduction of third line in Renigunta–Gudur and Gudur–Vijayawada sections and laying of new line in Srikalahasti–Nadikudi section.
Published – 09 Dec 2025 20:01 IST
