Being showcased by the Karnataka State Tourism Department, and the Indian Railways, the Golden Chariot has a few paid travellers from Australia, Austria, England and Germany at the maiden run of the luxury train.

There are also the first Indian couple Vijay Sai Bolla and his wife Vijaya Lakshmi Bolla who have paid for this trip. “It is worth every paise we have paid,” exclaimed this hotelier.

Asked about the practical experience gained so far from the running of the train, KSTDC public relation officer H T Ratnakar said: “We have really fine tuned the operations after the trial run. However, there are a few areas that need to be looked into. The first is the journey time taken to reach Badami from Hospet, after one visits the magnificent ruins of Hampi. The three-hour ride forth and back to Badami is what would really exhaust the tourist.”

There are plans to change this, once the track to Badami from Hospet is laid. It is going to be completed in another two months. Then the tourists can be taken directly to Badami from Hospet thus saving three hours. “The tourists can relax in the train after visiting Aihole and Pattadakal and then visit Badami caves leisurely. One must remember that the whole journey is a leisure holiday,” he said.

There are also plans to include the light and sound show in the Mysore Palace as part of the itinerary. The corrections in the script is ready and once it is approved the show will be on, he said.

Maple Hotels is handling both the on board and off board activities and the KSTDC is only coordinating with the Indian Railways and the hotel group, said Mr Ratnakar.

Meanwhile, the only option was to start the train early from Hospet that is around 5 am instead of  6 am and this would help the tourists to relax better, he said.