MUMBAI: Stuck in Covid years, Maharashtra's most awarded and rewarded tourist attraction -- the Deccan Odyssey 2.O --- is all set to relaunch its operations on Thursday from CSMT after almost a four years of halt.
The inaugural run from CSMT to Panvel via Dadar and Thane will be flagged off by state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar, tourism minister Girish Mahajan and school education minister Deepak Kesarkar at 2 pm.
Principal secretary (Tourism) Radhika Rastogi and MTDC Managing Director Shraddha Joshi Sharma will be present on board. Deccan Odyssey is one of the four top luxurious trains in the country for high-end and international tourists.
The interesting part of the journey in the second phase of Odyssey would be destinations out of Maharashtra such as in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, UP, MP and West Bengal other than the tourist places across Maharashtra.
The train was first launched in 2004 by then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and was in operation for around one-and-half decades. A few months before the new contractual agreements took place thus paving the way for the train to restart its operations, said Joshi Sharma.
Besides the gym and attached bathrooms, the refurbished air-conditioned train has personal chefs and two presidential suits for each coach and has multicuisine restaurants Peshwa-1 and Peshwa-2. The train will have internet, music systems and telephony available for the passengers. The train adopts advanced green and safety standards such as bio-disposal of waste.
New routes the Odyssey will operate on
Maharashtra splendor -- Mumbai CSMT-Nashik-Aurangabad-Pachora-Kolhapur-Madgaon-Sawantwadi
Indian sojourn -- Mumbai CSMT-Vadodara-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Agra-Sawai Madhopur-Delhi
Indian Odyssey -- Delhi-Sawai Madhopur-Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-Vadodara-Mumbai CSMT
Heritage Odyssey -- Delhi-Agra-Sawai Madhopur-Udaipur-JOdhpur- Jaisalmer- Jaipur-Delhi
Culture Odyssey -- Delhi-Sawai Madhopur-Agra-Jaipur-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi-Khajuraho- Varanasi-Delhi
Maharashtra wild trail --- Mumbai CSMT- Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar(Aurangabad)-Ramtek-Warora--Pachora-Nashik-Mumbai CSMT
Darjeeling Mail-- Mumbai CSMT-Vadodara-Udaipur-Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur-Agra-Benaras-Siliguri
Darjeeling Mail return -- Siliguri-Benaras-Agra-Sawai Madhopur-Jaipur-Udaipur-Vadodara-Mumbai CSMT
