Rajasthan will get another luxury train by December

BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi

Aug. 26: After the super success of Palace on Wheels, another super luxury train, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, is set to be launched in December. The train, which will have spas, retrobars and a boardroom, is a joint venture of the railway ministry and the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation.

Riding on the success of the Palace on Wheels, one of the top 10 luxury trains in the world, which is booked right up to 2010, the RTDC has decided to launch the new train which will start from Jaipur and will travel to Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Sawai Madhopur-Chittaurgar-Udaipur-Bharatpur and Agra.

The train will have two super deluxe suites, 13 deluxe saloons, two restrobars, a spa, a boardroom and Internet facility, informed Rajasthan minister of state for tourism and culture Usha Punia here on Monday.

Ms Punia also informed that Rajasthan tourism has grown two-fold in four years with foreign tourist arrivals to the state going up to 14 lakhs in 2007 as compared to 6.29 lakhs in 2003. Similarly, domestic tourism has grown to 259 lakhs in 2007 from 125.40 lakhs in 2003.

To promote tourism, the state has also improved its infrastructure. To this end, the Jaipur international airport runway will be extended from 9,000 feet to 11,500 feet. Also, the Udaipur airport will become the second international airport of Rajasthan, informed Ms Punia.

The state has also undertaken major projects under the public-private partnership route.

It has undertaken the Jal Mahal tourism project and Tijara Fort project under the PPP model.

At the famous Amer fort, the state government is planning to start a sound-and-light show. Other initiatives include promoting sports tourism, wellness tourism and eco-tourism.