Palace on Wheels to roll out in January 2007

After five years of delay, Karnataka's ambitious 'Palace on Wheels' project is see a trial run in January 2007 before it starts formal service. It has completed a majority of the formalities.

Karnataka's tourism minister B Sreeramulu told reporters here on Tuesday that work on designing the interiors of the rail coaches was in progress at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

"The coaches will be handed over to us in a few months. We have tied up with various tour operators to launch the 'Palace on Wheels' in January next year," he added.

The train is modelled on the lines of Rajasthan's famous luxury tourist train.

The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Railways for the Rs 30-crore train. "The delay in launching the service was due to non-availability of funds. This year, the government has made a budgetary allocation of Rs 8 crore for the project. With this, the total funding required for the project has been met," the minister stated.

The 'Palace on Wheels' will connect all the tourist circuits and cover places of cultural, historical and heritage importance such as Mysore, Hassan, Hospet, Hubli and Dandeli. The package includes Mysore Palace, Chamundi Hills, Srirangapatna, Belur, Halebid, Shravanabelagola, the World Heritage Site of Hampi, cave temples of Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal.

The luxury train will cover 1,637 km over seven days and accommodate a maximum of 100 passengers. It will have 12 coaches each with four coupes, two restaurant cars and two lounge cars. A bar, an ayurvedic massage parlour, salon, library and a conference room will also be part of the train.

However, the government is yet to fix the tariff. "Though our plan is to attract foreign tourists and showcase Karnataka to them, the tariff will be affordable for domestic tourists also. The tariff will be announced at the time of launching the train service," Sreeramulu said.