Golden chariot runs out of steam

Train to be taken off tracks for two months for annual maintenance

The train will be off the tracks for the next two-and-half months - from June 15 to August 15 on account of ‘annual maintenance’ according to the KSTDC website.

“The Golden Chariot has been running for an year without servicing and needed maintenance work,” said an official.

But speaking to Deccan Herald, KSTDC Managing Director, Vinay Luthra denied that the Chariot will go off track any time soon. “We have proposed it for repainting but that will only take a week. The train as of now will run as scheduled,” he said.

Luthra further added that the train, according to the Railway authorities, does not need any maintenance work. Railway officials confirmed that there was a proposal for the Golden Chariot to come in for some repainting work but added that nothing concrete has been taken. 

As the summer holidays begin in India during this three-month period, KSTDC, it appears, terming the period ‘lean’ for foreign travellers has taken the train off the tracks for repainting and interior upgradation.

Newer territories

 With talks still progressing, Railway sources say that  it was not possible to take any decision on Chariot’s venture into Kerala and Tamil Nadu as election code of conduct is in force. It will depend on the new government which will come to power,” said an official.

  But a confident Luthra has already begun talks with his counterparts. “I had a talk with Tamil Nadu Tourism Department and they seem quite keen on it beginning as soon as possible,” Luthra said. He said that the Railways have already given an in principle approval for the extension of the Chariot’s journey.

According to Luthra, the Golden Chariot will be ferrying tourists to places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and no new train will be commissioned for the purpose. “We will have the Golden Chariot running from Bangalore to Kerala and Tamil Nadu for one week while it will function for three weeks in Karnataka,” he said.

Revenue sharing

On the revenue sharing, Luthra disclosed that the possibilities are still being worked out. “We are still working on couple of possibilities. One is the charter system that will give us a fixed revenue for each week. While the second move would be sharing of revenue with the Kerala Tourism and Tamil Nadu Tourism Boards,” he said. With the charter system, KSTDC need not share any revenue except for the hauling charges for the Railways.
  The destinations as given to the Railways for approval in the two states are: Madurai, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore, Tiruvananthapuram and Kochi. The officials said that even if the Chariot goes to Kerala and Tamil Nadu the train will function more as a ‘cab service’ for these States with the tourism to be taken care of by the respective State Tourism Boards.