AP looks to Orissa to put Southern Splendour on tracks

HYDERABAD: The much-ambitious Southern Splendour tourism train project of Andhra Pradesh is dead on its tracks, and the state is now wooing Orissa government to bring it back on the rails.
"We have appointed I-Cap (India public private partnership capacity building trust) to negotiate with the Orissa government for including destinations from that state in order to get the Southern Splendour train chugging," Jayesh Ranjan, managing director of AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), told TOI.
It was over two years ago that Southern Splendour, a 14-coach luxury train modelled on the Palace on Wheels, was conceived by the state government to lure foreign and Indian tourists to the southern states with Hyderabad as the hub. Karnataka did not evince much interest as it had planned its own luxury train called the Golden Chariot, but the Southern Splendour was planned to cover the four southern states and the union territory of Puducherry.
Two routes were suggested by I-Cap for the train. The first one was Secunderabad, Tirupati, Madurai, Tanjavur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Thekkedy, Bangalore, Mysore, Vrindavan, Chennai and Mahabalipuram covering 3,200 km. The second one was Secunderabad, Tirupati, Madurai, Tanjavur, Tiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari, Kochi/Ernakulam, Puducherry, Chennai, Mahabalipuram and Secunderabad covering 2,900 km. "Now, I-Cap has been appointed to negotiate with the Orissa government to include destinations from their state including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Konark," Ranjan said.
However, the future of Southern Splendour remains very much on the response of the Orissa government. "The consultant has been given two months time to submit its report on the inclusion of destinations from Orissa for the train. And that would depend whether the ambitious project can be flagged off," the AP Tourism MD said.
When conceived two years ago, the plans of the train did match those the Palace On Wheels in terms of luxury. All the 14 bogies were meant to be living coaches, with each having a double bed and attached bath. The train was also meant to have a gymnasium, a fine dining restaurant, a health club, a lounge and a coffee shop.
With foreign tourists as the main target group, the pricing was meant to be in dollars. The Palace on Wheels charges $ 240 to $ 595 per night depending on the season. The state had planned a nominal $ 125 per night as an introductory offer to lure the tourists with the intention of increasing the rates later. However, at this juncture the project has to be put on wheels first before the state cam dream of it picking steam.