The government will soon launch a luxury train equipped with a gym, spa, beauty saloon, restaurant cars featuring multiple cuisines, lounge bars, and more...
NEW DELHI: On a trip to Punjab? How about a bodybuilding session, followed by relaxing hours in a spa and a beauty treatment, all aboard a train while visiting the state?
The government will soon launch a luxury train equipped with a gym, spa, beauty saloon, restaurant cars featuring multiple cuisines, lounge bars, observation cars with a viewing gallery, library, games room and a computer centre, to promote tourism in the Punjab sector that sees fewer footfalls compared to other tourist destinations.
In a move to woo NRIs and other high-end tourists to Punjab and wean them away from air travel, the ministries of tourism and railways plan to develop a luxury train on the lines of others in the country. Golden Chariot in Karnataka, Palace on Wheels and Heritage on Wheels in Rajasthan and Deccan Odyssey in Maharashtra, Royal Orient in Rajasthan-Gujarat and Himalayan Queen are a few tourist trains for the high-end tourists while Bharat Darshan and Rajdhani are for the average income group. There are also specialised services like Mahaparinirvana Train that connects destinations on the Buddhist Circuit.
The new luxury train will connect Punjab to other popular destinations in northern India. It will offer a seven-day onboard trip from New Delhi to Amritsar (Punjab), Pathankot (Punjab), Kapurthala (Punjab), Patiala (Punjab), Sri Anandpur Sahib (Punjab), Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh), Chandigarh, Kurukshetra (Haryana), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and back. It will have eight coaches and accommodate about 80 passengers. The fare will be $250 per day for single and $350 per day for double occupancy.
“Railways has been constantly developing niche products that have created opportunities to travel in India at the desired level of luxury or economy,” said tourism minister Ambika Soni.
According to Soni, the process of establishing world class stations, opening of new routes, additional trains to popular destinations and the creation of budget accommodations at railway stations will help promote domestic tourism in a major way. “Railways offers safe, affordable and convenient mode of travel for millions of tourists.
Last year the estimated numbers of domestic travelers was nearly 450 million. A large number of these domestic tourists used the Indian Railways to travel within the country,” Soni said.
The tourism ministry has provided an assistance of Rs7.25 crore to the Railways, which will share the capital cost of the rake and undertake its operation and maintenance.
p_vineeta@dnaindia.net
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