Luxury Tourist Trains
Indian Railways in association with its wing Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) operates luxury tourist trains specifically catering to the need of high end inbound tourist.
The marketing and promotion part of these luxury tourist trains is done by IRCTC whereas the operations part is handled by the Indian Railways.
Here in this part of module will discuss about these luxury tourist trains in brief;
1. Palace on Wheels
The Palace on Wheels is the benchmark and probably the most popular luxury train of India among the foreign nationals. The prime motive for its launch is to promote tourism in Rajasthan and it remained popular since its launch and again it was refurbished and relaunched in 2009
with all new decor and luxury standards. The concept of the train was derived from the coaches of the rulers in the past and interior was designed in such a way to give the feel of the royal along with the latest amenities like satellite television, music, Wi-Fi, attached toilet, running hot and cold water, personal attendants, air conditioning and almost all those things which is the demand of the luxury.
2. The Maharaja express
The Maharajas Express is a luxury train that is owned and operated by IRCTC which runs on 5 circuits covering more than 12 destinations in the North West and central India. Two of which started from Delhi includes visit to Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple and the remaining three itineraries are for the Pan India. This train is voted 5 times for the world’s leading Luxury train during world travel award from 2012 till 2016 and it is the most expensive luxury train in the world.
The Maharaja Express started its operations in 2010 having 23 carriages which include accommodation, dining, bar, fine dining restaurant, Business Centre etc. and it can carry 84 passengers at a time.
3. The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
After the success of Palace on Wheel on the similar terms this train was introduced to give a feel of the royalness of the Rajasthan to the tourist. It was launched in 2009 by the Indian Railways and covers the attractions Hawa Mahal, Moti Mahal, Sheesh Mahal, Ranthambore National Park , Chittorgarh Fort, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Agra fort and Taj Mahal.
4. The Golden Chariot
This is a Luxury train which runs in the Western Ghats of the peninsular India. It runs between Karnataka and Goa and named after stone chariot Vithala temple at Hampi.
The Golden Chariot operates weekly with 19 coaches in the train which are colored in gold with logo of a mythological animal having the head of an elephant and a body of a lion. This train started its operations in 2008 and is run by Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. The coaches of the train and named after the dynasties that ruled the region and having the amenities matching to a good five star hotel.
5. The Fairy Queen
The Fairy Queen provides the glimpses of the history to the tourist as it uses the treasure chest of Indian Railways in the form of its steam engine which is 145 years old and is the oldest locomotive working on steam in the world. This train provides first class accommodation to 60 passengers and takes them to an unforgettable two day weekend trip from Delhi to Alwar on selected days. The itinerary also includes a visit to the Tiger Reserve Sariska.
6. The Deccan Odyssey
The concept of Deccan Odyssey is also taken from the palace on wheels to boost tourism in the Maharashtra by the Indian Railway. This train is a joint venture of Government of India,
Ministry of Railways and government of Maharashtra. Besides covering the tourist destinations this train also provides a five star accommodation on wheels having two restaurants, a bar, sauna, business centre and other luxury manatees on board. Deccan Odyssey covers the tourist destinations in the Western Ghats, Deccan Plateau and the Konkan region.
