Mumbai: If Rajasthan has the opulent Palace on Wheels, then Maharashtra’s Deccan Odyssey has returned after four years. From exquisite presidential suites, decked up hallways with thematic coaches to gourmet dining, Maharashtra’s luxury train is set to take the guests on a tour of extravagance.
Old world charm with modern touches is what the Deccan Odyssey 2.0 offers—an experience reminiscent of the bygone era. It has state of the art interiors in a vibrant Indian style.
The restaurant coach, named Utsav—which means celebration—is painted red. The bar area is in shades of yellow, which is soothing to the eye. Another coach named Wavar is painted in yellow and blue, symbolising the hard work of farmers, the colours of farmlands and blue skies.
Each coach in the train reflects the diversity of Maharashtra and its royal past, showcasing the various dynasties that once ruled it, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) officials say.
The restaurant has Turkish Bonna brand porcelain cutlery along with Indian handcrafted silverware.
“Post-covid, people want to see the world, they want to enjoy the world. And we also see the shift when we take different modes of transport. Train is always better when you compare the carbon footprint. So, we are very happy with the response. The bookings are full till March,” Shraddha Joshi-Sharma, Managing Director, MTDC told ThePrint.
One of the five luxury trains in India, Deccan Odyssey stopped operations in 2019 after its operator Cox & Kings went bankrupt. Then the world was hit by the pandemic. The MTDC now has a new partner, Ebixcash, to run the train operations for the next five years. The train was inaugurated on Thursday, 21 September and is set to be back on track on 23 September.
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Cutlery, carpets and colour scheme
The train’s vinyl flooring has been replaced with wooden one, and covered with polypropylene carpets to avoid odour and humidity. The kitchen uses electric induction for safety, glass bottles have replaced plastic ones and curtains and paint are now heat-resistant.
“We put in efforts to do the colour scheme keeping in mind its thematic importance depending on what we are doing or serving there,” said Simarpal Virdi, general manager of the train, Ebixcash.
Deccan Odyssey is equipped with intercom and Wi-Fi services. The train consists of 21 coaches, including 10 with four deluxe cabins each and two with two presidential suites each. The deluxe cabins have two twin beds, a writing table, washroom and closets. In the suites, there is an extra seating area and a queen size bed.
To make the experience even more special, there’s one coach for conferences, two for dining, one for a health spa, one for a bar, two for staff quarters, and two for generators and storage.
What sets Deccan Odyssey apart from other Indian luxury trains—Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Maharajas’ Express—is the introduction of electric induction instead of LPG cylinders in the kitchen. Air suspension trolleys instead of conventional ones provide the passenger a less shaky experience in transit.
The train also has fire extinguishers in each of the coaches and flooring of the gangways and common areas is carpeted to make it less noisy and comfortable for the passengers.
Decked up with glass, porcelain and silver cutlery, the kitchen will have food from different states of India as per the location of the train. One international cuisine is also on the menu. The washrooms stocked up with toiletries have glass doors, standing showers, towels, robes and water closets—just like any five star hotel room.
Unlike before, the train now has bio tanks for the waste disposal.
“Previously, the dirt of the toilets of all the coaches was being decomposed in the railway station area as there were no bio tanks,” one MTDC official says.
If all goes well, MTDC is also expected to replace the current diesel engine with an electric one. The timeline, however, for this depends on Indian Railways’ approval.
Deccan Odyssey has a capacity to carry up to 90 passengers and 34 crew members. For the year 2023-24, MTDC has created six different tour packages for the tourists, which include destinations such as Delhi, Rajasthan, Varanasi, Agra, and Maharashtra’s popular Ajanta-Ellora caves and Tadoba forests.
As we all know, Delhi is a popular destination for many tourists, and because many tourists prefer to start their tours from Delhi, we have included it in our packages. Also, recently we saw demand has gone up for Varanasi hence we have added that too,” Joshi-Sharma says.
These tours will span seven nights and eight days, with a cost of over Rs 6.5 lakh per person. For a couple, the fare will go up to Rs 10 lakh, while a presidential suite can accommodate a family for nearly Rs 15 lakh.
“The main objective of the Deccan Odyssey luxury train was to introduce the tourist destinations of Maharashtra to the national and international tourists in a delightful way and also to promote the tourist destinations, cultural art-splendours and food cultures of Maharashtra,” an MTDC official says for the train that was built in 2003.
Deccan Odyssey was first inaugurated in 2004 by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“We had to do a lot of revamping and had to boost the train aesthetically. And along with it we also improved upon its security features. The gangways never had grab bars that you could hold but now we have added that feature. Likewise, we have given modern touches to it,” says Virdi.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)