For jungle buffs not willing to rough it out, the Vidarbha Queen, an air-conditioned narrow gauge train to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district, could prove the right thing.

Billed as the country’s first jungle safari train, the Vidarbha Queen has ten luxury carriages and will make the 120 km run from Nagpur to Nagbhid, right to the doorstep of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur district. It has six AC and one non-AC saloons, a pantry car, and two guards cabins, all with five-star interiors.

Should everything fall into place, the first run will be in May.

“As far as I know, this will be the first-ever luxury train for a jungle safari in the country,” Divisional Railway Manager, South East Central Railway (SECR), P K Shrivastava said.

In fact, the train was done up about three years ago for a trip to Kanha, but the project had failed to take off. Since then, it had been lying idle. TATR is emerging as a favourite tiger-sighting destination in central India.

“I realised that the kind of clientele it was supposed to serve needed to be given much more than the train then offered. The earlier version had coolers fitted aboard. International tourists, whom we are targeting, would need air—conditioners and similar amenities. So, we spoke to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), who showed keen interest in getting funds for the project. Together, we checked up the potential for a profitable run of the train. Many tour operators told us that there is a great potential for the train to be a success. Accordingly, the state government sanctioned Rs 94 lakh, with Tourism Minister Vijay Sinh Mohite-Patil taking personal interest. We then upgraded the facilities by fitting in ACs and installing such other modern facilities and fittings like intercom, five-star bathroom fittings and microwave oven,” he said.

... contd.