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The Palace - on - Wheels
(POW) has graced the Rajasthan Tourism and the Indian Railway since
January 1982. The Rajasthan Tourism Development Cooperation. The Indian
Railways, the Tourism Development of Rajasthan and the Government of
India launched POW as a special Heritage tourist train for providing a
unique and memorable experience to the tourist visiting Rajasthan.
The Legend
These coaches were not being used by the Indian Railways after
independence in normal passenger trains on account of very rich and
traditional interiors.
The Palace - on - Wheels started as a unique holiday train hauled by a
steam engine with its inaugural trip on 2nd January, 182. It started to
roll on its regular operations from October 1982.
The Legend Conserved
In 1991, a new air - conditioned meter gauge Palace - On - Wheels, on
the lines of the old heritage train, was launched 13 saloons, 2
restaurants, kitchen car, bar - cum - lounge and 4 service cars.
The Legend and the Modern
The Palace - on - Wheels has gained remarkable success and attained
worldwide acclaim and popularity bagging the PATA gold award in 1987.
The Palace - on - Wheels has been rated as one of the ten best luxurious
rail journey in the world. The popularity of the train has been enhanced
by the media. Famous TV Teams such as BBC, MTV, Zee TV, National
Geographic, MDR of Germany and many other have covered the train and
shown it on their network.
It has carried 32264 tourist in 518 trips up to Feb. 2001. The eight
days' and seven nights journey in royal splendor takes you to the
territory of the Maharajas; the 'Pink City' of Jaipur; Jaisalmer, 'the
jewel of the desert; the majestic stronghold of Jodhpur; Sawai Madhopur
for the Ranthambore National Park; the city of Chittorgarh with its
countless tales of Rajput chivalry; Udaipur with its lakes and Lakes
Palace; the red stone city of Fatehpur Sikri and; of course, the Taj
Mahal in Agra - one of the seven wonders of the world; Bharatpur, with
its remarkable bird sanctuary.
