If destination weddings are too passe for you, and you have Rs 5.5 crore to spare, get ready for a `travel-to-a-destination' wedding aboard the Maharajas' Express.

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation is planning to start a Wedding on Wheels package, a week-long extravaganza aboard the luxury train, which will merge both wedding festivities with the experience of traversing through Incredible India. 

Aimed at the uber rich, who want to give their guests a unique taste of India along with all the glitz and glamour of a desi wedding, an officer from IRCTC said, "There will be the best of everything, managed by experts to make it one of the most memorable events for the bride, groom and their families. We are finalising the finer details and will launch these packages on demand.We are hoping it's a huge success." Of course, this weddingcum-tour package comes at a jaw-dropping price. Booking the entire train for 88 passengers for a luxury eight-day wedding package will cost approximately Rs 5.5 crore for the Heritage of India tour, which travels from Mumbai to Delhi through Ajanta, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Ranthambore and Agra. There are other locations covered in other packages like the Indian Panorama tour that starts and ends in the Capital, taking passengers through Jaipur, Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Varanasi and Lucknow.

The train has 24 coaches fitted with 43 guest cabins - 20 deluxe, 18 junior suites, four suites and one presiden tial suite. The general fare per person for the eight-day Heritage of India tour starts at $6,840 (approx Rs 4.5 lakh) and goes up to $23,700 (Rs 15.8 lakh) for the presidential suite.

Apart from hosting weddings, IRCTC is also planning to rope in corporates and Bollywood to make their plan a success. "We are open to the idea of not only hosting grand weddings but also top-of-theline corporate events, movie shoots, fashion events, etc in one of the most luxurious trains of the country," said Pinakin Morawala, spokesperson of IRCTC, west zone.

Sky's the limit in glass-top coaches

Come December, passengers can stare into the skies in the new glass-ceiling coaches being introduced by IRCTC.

These coaches have been jointly designed by IRCTC, Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), and Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Perambur.

Three such coaches, each costing Rs 4 crore, will roll out from ICF in December this year. The first coach will be tagged in a regular train in the Kashmir Valley while the other two will be part of a train travelling through the picturesque Araku Valley on the SouthEastern Railway, said A K Manocha, chairman and managing director of IRCTC. Which specific trains will have these special coaches has not been decided yet.

The main aim objective behind this project is to promote tourism and woo upscale tourists from both India and abroad, said Manocha, adding, "We believe such coaches would also give a fillip to rail tourism in India." 

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

The world’s most expensive and leading luxury train, the seven-star super luxury Maharajas’ Express will soon be operated in Telangana.

The state tourism department and IRCTC officials on Wednesday discussed the proposal for operating super luxury Maharaja Express traveling from Konkan to Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu via Telangana.

Maharajas’ Express will halt at Secunderabad and Kazipet junctions in the state.

IRTS chairman AK Manocha and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) group general manager Smita Rawat held discussions with Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation chairman P Ramulu, tourism secretary B Venkatesham and Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation managing director Christina Z Chongthu on Wednesday. As requested by Ramulu, the IRCTC chairman also agreed to run three-star luxury trains from Secunderabad to Shirdi, Goa and Tirupati with basic tariff structure of bus fares.

IRCTC chairman Manocha sought cooperation from Tourism and Culture Department for providing backend services such as local transportation (for local sight seeing), accommodation, catering, entry tickets with tour escort services for the groups which are booked by IRCTC for promoting tourism destinations like Basara, Warangal, Hyderabad and Bhadrachalam.

Source:www.newindianexpress.com

With Christmas being round the corner, the connoisseurs of luxury travel must be looking forward to enjoy their vacations on board  Maharajas’ Express.  Although Maharajas’ Express gets fully booked for Christmas and New Year journeys but that should not deter you to plan your journey aboard this Indian luxury train.  For all those looking forward to enjoy luxuries aboard Maharajas’ Express this Christmas,  they can avail special discounts for the Gems of India Tour. These discounts are valid for the Gems of India tour slated for 25th December, 2013. 

The Gems of India journey offered by Maharajas’ Express train is a 3 nights and 4 day’s journey that brings you face to face with the luxurious lifestyle of erstwhile Indian Maharajas. The 3 nights and 4 day’s journey cover the famous Golden Triangle circuit of India including Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Besides Golden triangle, the journey also takes you to the Ranthambore National Park, an Indian tiger reserve of good repute. Read More.......

Maharajas' Express is voted leading luxury train in the world. This luxury train offer 5 journeys across fascinating and culturally potent destinations in India. Life a Maharaja life and regale in a world of red carpets and high teas with Maharajas on board Maharajas' Express.

India’s 65,000 kilometers of train tracks embroider the subcontinent, connecting thousands of cities. In 2010, Monisha Rajesh, a London-based journalist, set out to discover the railways, detailing her adventures in her new book, “Around India in 80 Trains.”

The state-run railways and private luxury lines give full view of the country’s people as well as its sights, Ms. Rajesh said. “You could be in first class with ambassadors and politicians in these air-conditioned compartments” she said. “Go down to the other end, you’ll find people sitting on wooden slats.”

“No one is excluded,” she added. “For every price, anyone can travel.”

Below are edited excerpts from a conversation with Ms. Rajesh on how to navigate India’s railways.

Q. India is enormous. How do you start planning an itinerary?

A. Before you go, buy an Indrail Pass, which is available only for foreign tourists, at a travel agency. Indian Railways, the state-owned network, has so much ticketing bureaucracy. You can avoid it with the pass, which allows for unlimited travel for up to 90 days. All you have to do is make reservations for the seat at the station. It’s worth the investment: at the time, I paid $530 for 90 days.

The official Web site of Indian Railways is awkward. For figuring out your itinerary, I recommend ClearTrip.com and IndiaRailInfo.com, which lists every single train that goes to your destination, all the prices, all the classes, how long they take. Let’s say you want to go from Delhi to Jaipur, you could take a four-hour journey for about $10 on one of the day trains like the Shatabdi Express or the Duronto Express — they’re fast, no nonsense, clean. Or you could take a train that costs 50 cents, but it’s nine hours in an uncomfortable compartment.

Q. Any particular itineraries you recommend?

A. Many tourists do the Golden Triangle in Rajasthan — Delhi, Agra, where the Taj Mahal is, and Jaipur — and the private luxury trains are good for exploring that. I took the Indian Maharaja-Deccan Odyssey from Mumbai to Delhi and saw the Maharajah palaces, a tiger sanctuary, the Ellora and Ajanta caves. There’s also the Maharajas’ Express, a new premium luxury train, with Swarovski crystals and such.

And in the south, I took the Golden Chariot in Karnataka from Mysore to Vasco da Gama. Goes through lesser-known areas and palaces, but no less impressive. These trains are expensive, but I’ve never seen anything quite so fabulous. Really strange to sit on an exercise bike in a gym, in a train, and it’s all moving past you.

Q. Any favorite routes of the public train system?

A. I loved the one through Bangalore and Mangalore called the Green Route because it’s so lush, especially post-monsoon season. The Konkan Railway from Mumbai to Goa has the Arabian Sea on one side, the Sahyadri Mountains on the other. It goes quite slowly, so everyone gathers in the vestibule, the doors always open. The train squeezes through mango groves, tiny villages; you can look to someone’s house, smell what they’re cooking.

Q. Any advice for female travelers?

A. I recommend asking for the upper berth, the top level in a sleeper compartment. You’re out of reach of wandering hands, and it’s good if you like napping during the day.

I traveled mostly with a male photographer but I did go off on my own for a month, and I was absolutely fine. As soon as they found out I was alone, families would invite me into their compartments. People are very welcoming to tourists. That’s the nice thing about trains: you’re with these people for an hour, two, maybe 24, and you come away with all of this local knowledge.

By Emily Brennan, The New York Times 
© 2013, The New York Times News Service

Maharajas Express - Republic Day Special Offer

With 2013 on the verge of arrival, IRCTC,  the operators of Maharajas’ Express train, have come up with a ‘Republic Day Special Promo Offer’ for journeying aboard this luxury tourist train. The offer is valid from  20th December, 2012 to 26th January, 2013. 

As per this ‘Republic Day Special Promo Offer’, all the bookings made before 26th January, 2013 for the five Maharajas’ Express tour itineraries- Gems of India, Heritage of India, Treasures of India, Indian Splendor and Indian Panorama- will include a pre & post 1 night complimentary stay at a five star hotel in Delhi/Mumbai. The offer is valid for all the departures from 20th December, 2012 till April, 2013. 

Often compared with the Venice Simplon Orient Express for its facilities & services, Maharajas’ Express stands equivalent to a five star hotel in terms of luxury. It boasts of 43 guest cabins equipped with  state of the art amenities such as individual temperature control, CCD cameras, LCD TV with DVD player, channel music and attached bathroom. There are two fine dining restaurants which serve a wide range of Indian and international delicacies. The train also has pneumatic hydraulic suspension, water filtration system and a boutique for shopping thrifts.

Source : http://www.forpressrelease.com/forpressrelease-92427-special-deal-for-maharajas-express-with-republic-day-special-promo-offer.html