A special train will run from Melbourne to Sydney carrying over 200 passengers who will attend the public address of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Australia, the first by an Indian premier in 28 years.
For the first time in the history of Melbourne, a train service will run under the name of an Indian prime minister.
On Sunday, the four-bogie train would carry almost 220 passengers from Melbourne to Sydney for the first and the only public address by Modi for Indian-Australians to be held at Sydney on Monday.
Organised by the Overseas Friends of BJP in Melbourne, the service has been dubbed as the 'Modi Express' to mark his first official visit as prime minister to Australia.
"This Modi Express will be a hell of a party time for all of the passengers," said Ashwin Bora, spokesperson for the OFBJP's Melbourne chapter.
People from several communities have booked their seats on this train, he added.
With the support of rail authorities in Melbourne, the train will be specially decorated with tri-colour balloons, Modi's posters and banners and pictures of iconic Indian locales.
Apart from this, the organisers have also arranged free food for the passengers who will be served with delicacies like 'Modi Dhokla' and 'Modi Fafda'.
Bora said the train journey would be an experience in itself as there would be music and dance troupes travelling as well to entertain the passengers.
"This is unprecedented in the history of Indian politics. For the first time a prime minister has evoked such an enormous response throughout the world akin to a rockstar. People are thronging to see him and I'm no exception to that. I am waiting to be a part of this special train journey," Anjali Tikoo, one of those booked to travel on Modi Express, said.
Modi is due to visit Brisbane for the G20 conference on November 15 and is also expected to hold a public address on November 17 for which over 150,000 attendees have already registered.
Image used for representational purposes only.
