People often speak of the class, sophistication and prestige that once characterised rail travel in days of yore. Qualities you’d be hard-pressed to find on the average run-of-the-mill train journey today, where the emphasis is very much on the getting from A to B and little else.
Those qualities do live on however. Several companies round the world are dedicated to maintaining or, at the very least, reproducing the erstwhile glory of the steam-powered age.
This is particularly so in India. It’s not surprising if you think about it. After all, it’s a country, in so many ways, held in the clutches of the past … a country where rail travel is a pillar of the national fabric and identity.
In its Readers Travel Awards last year Condé Nast Traveller listed three train companies – The Maharajas’ Express, Palace on Wheels and Deccan Odyssey – in its top 10 list of specialist train operators.
All three maintain an old-world charm and the kind of luxury that was once the preserve of royalty. Take, for instance, the décor of these trains – the private suites and public lounges drip in wood panelling and the fine, deeply coloured textiles otherwise found in the palaces of the Maharajas. Then consider the service – passengers are waited on hand and foot by uniformed attendants aping the order established in the residences of the British Raj.
Given the choice, we’d have to pick Palace on Wheels because it tours the incredible state of Rajasthan (from Delhi stopping in Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bharatpur and Agra).
Written by insider city guide series Hg2 | A Hedonist’s guide to…
(Image: SKI tripper)
