Golden Chariot, south India’s only luxury train, is making a comeback

Railways finally agrees to operate Golden Chariot on revenue-sharing basis

The Golden Chariot was flagged off in 2008.

The tenth anniversary of the Golden Chariot, south India’s only luxury train, has brought good tidings. Indian Railways has finally relented to the Karnataka government’s request to resume operations of the luxury train on a revenue-sharing basis.

The non-operation of the train had led to huge losses for the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC).

A KSTDC release on Friday said the Railway Board, New Delhi approved a revenue-sharing ratio of 56:44 between Indian Railways and KSTDC for 2017-18 in an order dated January 31.

The Golden Chariot was envisaged in 2002 through an MoU between KSTDC and Indian Railways, with the provision of revenue sharing for the initial five years. However, the Railways started imposing high haulage charges from the very first year of operation in 2008.

Relief from haulage charges

With revenue-sharing providing a measure of relief, KSTDC can now focus on improving occupancy rates and stop paying large sums as haulage charge.

“The haulage charges were so high that it was more than the net revenue of the train. This was leading to losses. Another reason was that occupancy was around 35%, which is low. That did not improve because when The Golden Chariot was started in 2008, there were only two trains — Palace on Wheels and The Golden Chariot. By 2009-10, there was competition from three more trains,” said Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director, KSTDC.

With a maximum speed of 200 kmph, Tejas will cover the distance between Mumbai and Goa in eight and half hours.

The train will have executive class and chair class. The coaches will have tea and coffee vending machines, magazines, snacks tables, LCD screens, and Wi-Fi.

Fare of the train is said to be more than 20 per cent of the Shatapdi ticket. ₹1,200 minimum for AC chair car and ₹2,700 for executive class.

Rated among one of the best in the world, Maharaja Express train flagged off in 2010. It offers various travel packages with train fares ranging from around $3,000 (₹2 lakh), and going up to nearly $24,000 (₹16 lakh).

Another luxury train that traverses across South India only, is the Golden Chariot. It offers grand tours across the States.

Popular for its ethnic decor, Palace on Wheels travels across Delhi, Agra and Jaipur among other adjacent cities.

As the name suggest, the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels is all about royalty and comfort. With about 13 luxury cabins, the train takes one on a tour around historical places in Rajasthan.

In its 'Sheesh Mahal' restaurant, the Royal Rajasthan on Wheels provides various Indian cuisines, beverages coupled with great music.

The Deccan Odyssey Train provides six destination journeys that covers Maharashtra and parts of north India. The train was inaugurated in 2004.

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Mr. Pushkar said the tourism corporation is paying up to ₹35 lakh as variable haulage charge and ₹20 lakh as fixed charge for every trip. This had an adverse impact on the train’s financial performance. For example, in eight years of its run, the train had netted ₹52.4 crore as gross revenue from ticket sales, but at the same time, ₹52.5 crore had been paid as haulage charges.

“Under revenue sharing, whatever we get from ticket sales will be shared between the Railways and us. We don’t have to pay any haulage charge,” he explained.

Will this have an impact on the fares, which are upwards of ₹2 lakh? Yes, says Mr. Pushkar. “Now we will go for dynamic fares to compete in the market. Fares may decrease or increase based on demand. Our job now is to improve occupancy,” he said.

Priyank Kharge, Minister for IT-BT and Tourism, said that a 50% occupancy rate would be the target for the next two years, apart from increasing the number of trips from about 10 in a year to more than 20.