A visitor looks at a message and portrait of Swami Vivekananda on the exhibition train in Balasore. Telegraph picture

Balasore, May 9: Vivekananda Express, a special exhibition train to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, entered Balasore railway station on Sunday. This exhibition-on-wheels train, however, has failed to draw a good number of visitors because of poor publicity.

Balasore’s station manager Bhagabat Das said he had no information about the train’s arrival until Saturday night. “I had no clue it would arrive on Sunday. Quite naturally, therefore, I did not get much scope for its publicity. I heard advertisements had been published in newspapers in this regard,” said Das.

The exhibition train’s manager, P.K. Maharaj, who along with other railway officials, boarded the train from Sirni in Madhya Pradesh, said: “We have been asked to be in the train till it reaches Berhampur. The railways’ public relations department has the responsibility of looking into publicity affairs.”

The district information and public relations department also told The Telegraph that they were not informed by anyone about the arrival of the train.

On the other hand, only a few people who learnt about this special train paid a visit to the Balasore railway station. The exhibition train was flagged off from Howrah station by railway minister Mamata Banerjee on January 12. The five-coach air-conditioned train has been making its way around the country, exhibiting photographs and write-ups displaying about the life and works of Swami Vivekananda in two coaches, while three other coaches have been kept for the railway personnel accompanying the exhibition.

An outlet has also been set up in the train to sell books, pamphlets and pictures in collaboration with the Ramakrishna Mission. Appreciating the efforts of the railways department, the visitors said the exhibition provided a unique opportunity for them to learn about the various facets of Swami Vivekananda’s life.

“I went through the messages of Swami-ji, which were displayed inside the train compartments, and learnt that he pleaded for the security of the proletariat (workers) before even before Karl Marx did so,” said visitor Nibha Das (69), who is a retired principal of a college.

“He is the first saint in the world who took up social service despite severe criticism from his contemporaries,” she added. Some visitors, however, said the exhibition train would have appealed more to people if it had guides to help the visitors.

The train would leave Balasore tomorrow for Mancheswar station, Bhubaneswar, for public viewing from May 11 to 13. It would then go through Berhampur, Koraput and Rayagada railway stations in Orissa and Visakhapatnam station in Andhra Pradesh under the jurisdiction of the East Coast Railway. The exhibition train will run across the country till January 12, 2013 spreading the message of religious harmony and unity of the masses.