By IANS,
New Delhi : A group of 25 BBC journalists set out on a cross-country tour of India on a special train to connect to people and “present to the world stories and personalities” involved in the Lok Sabha polls.
The quiet Safdarjung Railway station wore an unusually festive look Saturday noon as the BBC reporters – representing 12 languages across 14 services – trooped on to the platform with their baggage and broadcast gear to board the red-and-white air conditioned train, dubbed the BBC India Election Train.
The journalists include representatives of BBC’s English, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Bengali, Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, Somali, Swahili, World News, Arabic Television, Persian TV services as well as bbc.com/news.
The diesel train with seven coaches – fitted with a pantry car and broadcast facilities – was decked with graffiti like “Will Indian Voters Revive Voters’ Fortunes”.
“It is real hard work,” laughed Mark Perrow, assignment editor, BBC World News, when asked whether it was an election holiday they were about to undertake. The journey will last at least three weeks.
In the first leg of the trip, the train will chug west to touch base with voters in Ahmedabad, before pulling into Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Patna and Allahabad.