Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The state’s high-end luxury train Deccan Odyssey 2.0, after a gap of three years, will be arriving in the city soon. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has organised a traditional ceremony to flag-off the exclusive train from Mumbai, on Thursday, at 2 pm.
As per the schedule, the iconic train will be operating on six different routes to provide exciting experiences to the tourists onboard. Of which, the visit to world heritage Ellora and Ajanta Caves, is scheduled in three routes. For the first time, it will travel to destinations outside of Maharashtra like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
In the wake of Covid 19 pandemic, the train service was halted from March 13, 2020. The train arrived with 66 British tourists in the city. It may be noted that the newspaper has highlighted the news many times pin-pointing the need to restart the train. Hence the then tourism minister had assured of relaunching the train, soon.
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The three routes with schedule of visit to Ellora and Ajanta Caves are as follows:
Maharashtra Splendour: CSMT (Mumbai) - Nashik Road - Ellora Caves (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar)- Ajanta Caves (Pachora)- Kolhapur-Madgaon-Sawantwadi (Goa) and Mumbai.
Indian Odyssey : Delhi-Sawai Madhopur-Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-Vadodara- Ellora Caves - Mumbai CSMT.
Maharashtra Wild Trail : CSMT (Mumbai) - Ellora Caves (Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar)- Ramtek- Tadoba- Ajanta Caves - -Nashik-Mumbai CSMT.
Booking till 2026!
MTDC general manager Chandrashekar Jaiswal said, “The relaunch of the luxury train has been done under the guidance of the state’s tourism minister Girish Mahajan, principal secretary (tourism) Radhika Rastogi and the managing director (MTDC) Shradha Joshi-Sharma. The train’s manager, Akhilesh Shukla also extended cooperation. The train will be operating on six new and exciting routes. Of which, the visit to world heritage sites - Ajanta and Ellora Caves - is included in three routes. There is a good response to the luxury train booking and it is booked till 2026.”
Meanwhile, a tourism expert Jaswant Singh welcomed the relaunch saying that prior to the Covid 19 pandemic situation, the luxury train would record 22 trips in a year. The maiden visit of the train after relaunch is expected to arrive in the starting of the month of October, he said.