Deccan Odyssey History

The history of Deccan Odyssey is very recent.  It is not a very old luxury tourist train like Palace on Wheels, which has a regal past. Deccan odyssey is the recent joint venture between Indian Railway and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). In collaboration with the famous Taj Group of hotels, Indian railways has created a complete 5-star hotel on wheels, with two restaurants and a bar, a sauna, business centre and other such amenities on board. The Deccan Odyssey train offers its guests the best comforts and services available presently on any luxury trains all over the world. The luxury train takes its guests to most fascinating tourist spots of Maharashtra and Goa. The train starts its journey from CST, Mumbai, the train travels to Ganapatipule, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa, Pune, Aurangabad, Ajanta and Ellora, Nashik and then back to Mumbai.

The colour of this beautiful luxury train is blue and it is also called the beautiful blue Limousine. The train is the brainchild of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC).  An MOU for the Deccan Odyssey was signed between the Railway Ministry and the MTDC in Feb 2001 and after the Railway Board's go-ahead signal was received by the ICF (Integral Coach Factory) in May 2002.

It took close to five months to finalize the design of the coaches and another five months to complete the construction. The train completed its pilot run during late 2003. And finally on January 16th, 2004 Deccan Odyssey started its maiden journey from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) Mumbai.