The ‘Southern Splendour’ tour of the Golden Chariot train is in a unique spot as the Southern Railway cannot accommodate it but foreign tourists want it back.
After the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) decided to call off this southern India tour in February, officials said demand for its recall has forced a rethink on shelving the route altogether.
“Our general sales’ agents from across the world have been reporting to us about requests from tourists for the Southern Splendour tour for the year end. We will talk to the Railways to help get the route restored,” said Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director, KSTDC.
India’s luxury trains are particularly popular among foreign tourists and NRIs. Since they offer accommodation (inside the train), internal transport, sightseeing and food throughout the tour, they are preferred because of the prospect of a hassle-free holiday. However, the steep tariff keeps domestic tourists away.
The problem for South India’s only luxury train cropped up when the Railways expressed its inability to keep the Golden Chariot on tracks overnight and during the day at several busy stations when tourists are out to explore the destinations on road. As a result, the KSTDC decided to end the Southern Splendour’s trip on February 27.
The plan was to convert all 11 trips that the Golden Chariot makes in its run time — October to March — into the Pride of South tour that covers prime tourist destinations in Karnataka and Goa.
However, hoping for a Railways’ nod, it is now looking for at least four out of 11 to be the Southern Splendour trip. “We have already received 46 bookings for the coming season and there are a lot of requests for the Southern Splendour route too,” Mr. Pushkar said.
Maharaja Express southern trips fail to take off
Though Golden Chariot’s ‘Southern Splendour’ is looking for a second life with the KSTDC claiming that there have been requests from tourists, another luxury train — Maharaja Express — has put off its plans to make inroads into the south owing to low bookings.
The train was to depart from Mumbai on June 23 and leave again from Trivandrum on July 1.
The IRCTC had announced massive discounts and enabled diluted itineraries to popularise the ‘Southern Jewels’ tour covering Trivandrum, Chettinad, Thanjavur, Mahabalipuram, Mysuru, Hampi, Goa and Mumbai. The other tour announced was ‘The Southern Sojourn’ covering Mumbai, Goa, Hampi, Mysuru, Kochi, Kumarakom and Trivandrum.
But Sandip Dutta, PRO of IRCTC, which runs the Maharaja Express, told The Hindu that the plan to venture into the south had not been called off. “It takes time to establish a new route and popularise it. None of the luxury trains in India are doing well. We have been not aggressively, but steadily seeing more passengers. We are in the green, making profits,” he said, also denying any teething problems similar to the ones the Golden Chariot is faced with.
Mr. Dutta also brushed aside talks of the introduction of another luxury train denting the already bleak business prospects of the Golden Chariot, offering Rajasthan as an example, where two luxury trains operate — Palace on Wheels and Royal Rajasthan on Wheels.
For now, the IRCTC is adopting the wait-and-watch approach for their monsoon trip, maintaining that the September tour in the south, which falls under its October to April period of operation, will take off as scheduled.
