Date:30/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/30/stories/2008013054480700.htm

Karnataka

Luxury train to be ready by tomorrow

Staff Reporter

— Photo: S. Thanthoni

FOR THE WELL-HEELED: A January 23 photo of the Golden Chariot coaches at the Integral Coach Factory in Chennai.

BANGALORE: Tipped to become the latest addition to the glittering tourism scenario of the State, the Golden Chariot, Karnataka’s luxury train, will be decked up completely by Thursday, a couple of days before receiving a presidential flag off. The train is scheduled to be flagged off by President Prathibha Patil from Yeshwanthpur Railway Station on Saturday.

The train that chugged into the city from Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai on Friday last is being given the final touches at the Whitefield Railway Station and the work is go on at a brisk pace. Nearly 200 skilled workers are on the job to keep the train ready by Thursday, sources said.

The sources said that the train is being decked up with soft furnishing, including curtains, carpets and mattresses, besides mounting of audio-visual telecommunication equipment.

The kitchen on the luxury train would be commissioned before the trial runs, the sources added.

The train’s interior designer Kusum Pendse, the sources said, is monitoring the progress of the work at the Whitefield Railway Station.

Trial run

The first full-fledged trial run of the Golden Chariot scheduled for seven nights and six days, will start on February 11 which would provide both on-board and off-board partners an opportunity to get accustomed before the first commercial launch on March 3.

The authorities have planned for a second trial run in the third week of February during which travel partners would be taken on board to give them a glimpse of what the train could offer to the high-heeled travellers.