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| Palace on Wheels' Cabin: Palace on Wheels locomotives the First Luxury Train in India |
Palace on Wheels
The Palace on Wheels is the first luxury train of India. It was launched on 26th January 1982 by the Indian Railway in association with Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation to develop and promote tourism in Rajasthan. The name or concept of 'the Palace on Wheels' derives from the fact that these coaches were owned by the former kings and princes of India, mostly Rajasthan. There are twenty-three coaches in total and 104 tourists can travel at one point in time. The train begins its journey from New Delhi and covers Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittor, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur, Agra, and then returns to New Delhi on the ninth day of its journey.
Royal Orient
The Royal Orient was started in 1994-1995 by Indian Railways and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat on the working model of India's first luxury train, the Palace on Wheels. There are thirteen coaches in the trains, named after Kingdoms of Rajputana. The Royal Orient starts its journey from Delhi and then covers Chittorgarh, Jaipur, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Mehsana, Junagarh, Veraval, Sasan Gir, Mandvi, Palitana, and Sarkhej.
Fairy Queen
The Fairy Queen is one of the oldest working steam locomotive in the world. It originally came into the service in 1885 and retired in 1909. The steam engine, then, refurbished by Indian Railway and relaunched in 1997. Since it runs between Delhi and Alwar.
Deccan Odyssey
The Deccan Odyssey is a special luxury train launched by Indian Railways and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation in 2004. It was visualized and runs on the same working model of the Palace of Wheels, covering heritage locations in Maharashtra and other neighboring states. There are a total of six different itineraries consisting of 8 days and 7 nights journey offered by the Deccan Odyssey.
Mahaparinirvana Express
The Mahaparinirvana Express is a luxury train operated in collaboration by Indian Railways and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. It was launched in 2007 to offer a well-crafted experience to the Buddhist spiritual experience seekers and covers Buddhist pilgrimage sites in North India. The train gets its name from Mahaparivana of the Gautam Buddha.
Golden Chariot
The Golden Chariot is a luxury tourist train operated in collaboration by Indian Railways and Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. It was launched in 2008 and offers two different itineraries, named, Pride of the South and Splendor of the South. The Pride of South covers destinations in Karnataka only, whereas the Splendor of the South covers desitnations between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Pondicherry.
Royal Rajasthan on Wheels
The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels is visualized and runs on the same working mode of its sister train the Palace on Wheels. It is launched by Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation Limited in 2009. It starts its journey from Delhi's Safdargunj and covers Jodhpur, Udaipur, Chittor, Jaipur, Khajuraho, Varanasi, Sarnath, Agra, and Delhi.
The Maharaja's Express
The Maharaja's Express is the leading luxury train in India. It was launched by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation in partnership with Cox and Kings India Ltd in 2010. The partnership was ended in 2011 due to various administrative and technical reasons. Since then it is run by IRCTC only. It is most expensive luxury train in the country and being voted World's Leading Luxury Train several times. The train offers five different iteneraries covering different parts of India.