Tamil Nadu

Golden Chariot to chug out on Dec. 23

Chennai: Golden Chariot, Karnataka’s luxury train for the well-heeled travellers, will chug out of Yeshwanthpur railway station on December 23. The inaugural run is likely to be a truncated version with four to five days of journey time.

Disclosing this to presspersons here on Wednesday, Tourism Secretary I.M. Vittalmurthy said that the first commercial run would be preceded by two trial runs in the first fortnight of December. “We are planning to have two short commercial runs of three to four days, itinerary for which is being planned by the service providers,” he said. The first full commercial run for six nights and seven days is likely in January.

Mr. Vittalmurthy, who earlier held discussions with officials of the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur, near here, said: “Preparation of the coaches for the luxury train is in various stages, and that the State Government would like to receive all the coaches by November 30.” He said that marketing work had begun and that the service providers had already visited some countries. He said that the tariff would be ranging around $ 350 a night per person and would take travellers to 11 destinations in the State that present wide ranging variety. “The final cost of the project is coming to around Rs. 36 crore from the initial estimate of about round Rs. 32 crore,” he added.

The Golden Chariot that promises to pamper travellers onboard with services on a par enjoyed by the royals, will sport the names of the famous dynasties that not only ruled the region, but made long lasting contributions. Eleven coaches that would carry 88 passengers on a distance of around 1,400 km will be named after dynasties such as Kadambas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara, Wadiyar and others. “We are in the process of shortlisting names of 11 dynasties that ruled the region,” Mr. Vittalmurthy said.

The lounge bar has been named “Madira.” The restaurant has been named “Nala.” Furniture, including tables and chairs have been kept ready and would be fitted in Bangalore.

According to Mr. Sanjay Chhabra, Chairman and Managing Director of Mapple Group, which has been entrusted with marketing and managing responsibilities, the company was in the process of hiring people for the project. “We will almost have one employee for every passenger on board,” he said.

If it took almost 900 drawings by engineers of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to finalise the designs for the Golden Chariot, the luxury train of Karnataka, it is taking even more effort for the skilled carpenters to execute the intricate designs for the interiors. For the last four months, at least 200 workers are on the project at ICF’s facility at Perambur, near here, and their effort is slowly converting the “steel shells” (railway coaches) into luxurious spaces that would attract the niche travellers to explore Karnataka.

Unpainted, as it stood in the ICF yard, these steel shells are being readied for the first commercial run, scheduled for December 23. A small portion of this huge facility has virtually turned into a make-shift home for these workers, who hail from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

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