Feel like an Indian Maharaja; Luxury train travel at Rs one lakh per day

Now one can really travel in royal style by the Maharajas' Express, the country's first pan-India super luxury train, in which a tourist has to shell out more than Rs one lakh per day. It was flagged off on its maiden journey from Kolkata by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday.

The state-of-art coaches of the Maharaja Express, rolled out from ICF Perumbur, have several features which are the first for any luxury trains. These include individual temperature control system and environment friendly toilet, live TV, internet, in-house movies and direct dialling facilities. There will be four different categories of carriages in the train - presidential suite ($2500), suite ($1400) deluxe cabin ($900) and junior suite ($800).

The signature journey will cover two routes -- one between Delhi and Mumbai, covering places of tourist interest in Gujarat and Rajasthan on its way, and the other between Delhi and Kolkata covering Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh, Varanasi and Gaya enroute. Journeys in both the routes will take between seven to eight days.

Tourists on both routes -- Kolkata and Mumbai -- may also have the opportunity to have a glimpse of tigers in forests. While Ranthambor tiger reserve falls on the Mumbai-Delhi-Mumbai route, Bandhavgarh national park is on the Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi segment. While the Delhi-Mumbai journey will be called as 'Royal India', the Delhi-Kolkata journey will be christened as 'classical India'.

The train has an exotic bar with the choicest collection of wines and spirits and an 'observation lounge' with its own bar, game tables and comfortable club arm-chairs. Maharaja Express also houses a high-end boutique featuring exquisite and unique creations. The country's first luxury train -- the Palace on Wheels -- is already an established brand among foreign and domestic travellers, covering popular tourist places in Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, in a major goof-up, an advertisement inserted in newspapers by the Eastern Railway showed Delhi in Pakistan and Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal. The advertisement was to announces inauguration of luxury tourist train 'Maharaja's Express'.

A small box inside the advertisement panel showed the train route from Kolkata to Delhi via Gaya, Varanasi, Bandhabgarh, Khajuraho, Agra and Gwalior. As the faint background of the outline of a small map of India showed Kolkata in the Bay of Bengal and Delhi in Pakistan, ER Chief Public Relations Officer Samir Goswami said, "It is a great mistake. We apologise for this. The advertising agency has been suspended."

- Asian Tribune -