The first run of the special Shatabdi Express from Delhi is scheduled for Wednesday morning. It will return around 5.30 pm the same day, according to the divisional railway manager Devesh Mishra.

 All arrangements are being made by the IRCTC, which will provide Volvo buses at the Agra Cantt station which has been decked up to international standards.

 CWG guests will visit the Taj Mahal, spend some time at the Shilp Gram tourist mela, and have lunch at hotel Jaypee Palace.

 Vice president of hotel and president of Tourism Guild Rajiv Narain told Agratoday.in, "guests will be in the hotel for around two and a half hours. They will have buffet lunch, though we have made seating arrangements for 300 guests also. The leisure mall of the hotel has been specially decked up with Commonwealth Games theme, plus there will be folk dancers who will entertain the guests. We are trying to create an ambience that they will remember for long."

The district authorities have carried out rehearsals and beefed security all along the route from Agra Cantt railway station to the Taj Mahal, a distance of about eight kilometers, most of which falls in the Cantonment Board area.

"The Mall road with a fresh coat of paint and its green cover all spruced up presents a better profile of the Agra city. Tourist organizations of the city will, if allowed take the opportunity to welcome the guests," said Rajiv Tiwari, convener of the joint committee of a dozen tourism bodies of the city.