Golden Chariot offers package for domestic travellers in Karnataka
BENGALURU: Karnataka’s luxury train Golden Chariot is all set to become affordable with the Tourism Department planning to offer a glimpse of extravagance to domestic weekend travellers. The department has opened up bookings for a two night, one day weekend package at Rs 30,000 per person.
Faced with poor patronage and mind boggling haulage charges, the department, which is offering this package during summer on an experimental basis, is hoping to extend it for a longer time. Haulage charges are what the Railways charges the operators for its infrastructure.
The package will offer two routes on alternate weeks. One route will go from Bengaluru to Mysuru and cover Srirangapatna, while the other package will cover Hampi.
Tourism Minister Priyank Kharge, who announced this in the Legislative Council on Monday, later said the cost includes food and accommodation along with curated tours. “We wanted to offer an affordable luxury experience for the middle class and upper middle class,” he said.
KSRTC MD Kumar Pushkar said they have begun receiving enquiries and the department is keen on making this a regular affair if it works out.
The Tourism Department can well do with an increase in revenue when it comes to the Golden Chariot.
As of now, the haulage charges paid to the Railways are killing whatever little revenue is earned from the train.
The Pride of South tour is a seven-night trip and costs around Rs 1.8 lakh per person. It is run from October to March, which is when international tourists throng the country.
For the last three years, the department is running only 10 trips per year to offset losses. Last year, the train had an occupancy rate of 70 per cent. But in terms of revenue, it means little. Over nine years, the department has paid the Railways a staggering 96 per cent of its revenue as haulage charges.
For the mere 10 trips on Golden Chariot between October and March of 2016-17, the department paid the Railways a little over Rs 5 crore. This includes the Rs 2.14 crore that has to be paid to them even if there are no trips.
The department has been having talks once every two months to convince the Railways that this should be a revenue-sharing model. “But all we get is a standard response that it will be examined,” Kharge said.
“We would like to run at least 26 trips a year. If this were converted into a revenue sharing model, then we would be better placed in terms of revenue,” Pushkar said.
Other luxury trains like Deccan Odyssey run by Maharashtra and Royal Rajasthan by Rajasthan are also paying haulage charges and suffering losses. “It is only Palace on Wheels which operates on a revenue-sharing basis with the Railways and they are able to turn this into a profit. We are trying to convince the Railways to go for this as we feel we should be equal stakeholders,” he said.