Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation

IRCTC

Goa

Hampi

Mysore

Cochin

Alleppey

Trivandrum

First-ever ultra-comfortable train tour to South India fails to get any Mumbaikars on board.Mumbai, the country’s richest city, has given a royal snub to the first-ever luxury train to South India, forcing the railways to cancel the entire two-way service that was supposed to chug out of the city on Saturday.The Maharajas’ Express — the ‘crown jewel’ of the) — was scheduled for an eightday tour covering, and, the final leg of the journey from Mumbai.The 23-coach train has, for no more than 84 passengers, private cabins and suites with luxury and comforts that the regular Mumbai commuter, used to a daily scrum for boarding cramped coaches, would find it hard to believe. But it failed to pique the interest of holidaymakers here: the IRCTC didn’t get a single booking till Thursday evening despite running a ‘Buy 1, Get 1’ free offer. The return trip from Trivandrum received 15 bookings.The dismal response to the Southern Sojourn Monsoon Special, as the tour is officially called, made it unfeasible for rail authorities to run the service and it was cancelled on Thursday itself. The superb facilities on the Maharajas’ Express were offered at a staggering price: the adult fare for a deluxe cabin, the basic by the standards of luxury, for the eight-day tour was over Rs 5 lakh; the junior suite more than Rs 7 lakh; and suite Rs 10.09 lakh. The train’s only presidential suite, which can accommodate four passengers, was priced at Rs 17.33 lakh.“We also introduced a special oneday, one-night fare of Rs 33,250 to attract domestic tourists, but the response in Mumbai was not good,” said an IRCTC official. “We are surprised as Mumbai is the commercial capital.”Anil Kumar Saxena, additional director general (public relations), Railway Board, said though the June 24 and July 1trains from Mumbai and Trivandrum had been cancelled, the Maharajas’ Express tour would be offered again in September. “We will focus on popularising it,” he said.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------23 coaches. Of these, 14 are guest carriages — named after precious stones: Moti, Heera, Neelam, Feeroza, Pukhraj. Presidential suite is called Navratna, boasts of two bedrooms, a separate living area, a dining room, and a modern bathroom with a bathtubfor a deluxe cabin for 8-day tour was over Rs 5 lakh; junior suite over Rs 7 lakh; and suite Rs 10.09 lakh. Presidential suite: Rs 17.33 lakh