Maharajas' Express History

Maharajas' Express Train History

The trend of luxury train started in 1980s. Maharajas’ Express is the most recent one to join the group. Maharajas’ Express Train was started as a fantasy-coming-true experience for the tourists looking for a luxury vacation in India.

Today, Maharajas’ Express is in par with the world class Orient Express of West, in terms of elegance, hospitality and uniqueness.

Maharajas’ Express started with the inspiration from the saloons of 18th and 19th centuries. These saloons were strictly for the royals of the time. Only the Indian royals and British blue bloods were allowed to travel in these saloons. Riding in trains was seen as a prestige factor.

Thus, kings of other princely states started building primitive narrow gauge lines to create their own trains.

The most elegant trains of all were the trains used by king of Vadodara and king of Gwalior. Taking those saloons into inspiration, the Maharajas’ Express was built with five promising itineraries, which would provide you the best journey of all times.

Maharajas’ Express started its first trip in 2010 and has been preferred by tourists around the world, from day one. When the train started its first trip, it allowed only 86 passengers. The pioneer itineraries provided by the train were very different from the ones that it has today. The itinerary started or ended at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.


Key Elements of Maharajas’ Express

  • Exposing every possible glimpse of cultural, heritage, traditional, natural and cuisine beauty and diversity of the land.
  • Visiting all the marvelous architectural remainders of ancient reigns like Taj Mahal, Gwalior Forts, temples and so on.
  • With the guides, you get to learn interesting facts about each monuments, making your trip more than just a glance at marble, sandstone, rocks and sand.
  • Visit to National Parks, exploring the sanctuaries, going on game drives and so on to watch the exotic animals and birds of the land. India is more than just the Bengal tigers and elephants.
  • Culture is not limited to just the cuisine, garments, lifestyle and rituals. Culture is embedded in India’s art forms. This is the reason to why every royal heir (prince and princess) were given exclusive training in 64 forms of arts, which include dance, poetry, music, weapon, cooking and so on. Maharajas’ Express gives immense importance to these art forms and includes many cultural live performances during the trip.

Why Maharajas’ Express is Unique From Others?

Since the 1980s, luxury trains have been running through India. Maharajas’ Express is actually the youngest of all. Yet, it has managed to earn many laurels within the shortest time possible.

Some of the ribbons on its chest are, being awarded as the best luxury train of the world, several times in a row, recognized as the most luxurious train of the world and so on. Why is it special ? A royal styled suite, dedicated staffs and exclusive Indian flavored itineraries are commonly provided by all the royal luxury trains. What makes Maharajas’ Express so unique ?

  • The Heritage of India: The most classic of all the Celestial India itinerary, which covered Mumbai, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and Delhi.
  • The Indian Panorama: The Princely India tour covered Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Orchha, Khajuraho and Varanasi.
  • The Indian Splendour: This itinerary covers Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Bikaner, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Mumbai
  • Treasures of India : This itinerary covers Delhi, Agra, Ranthambore and Jaipur.

Today, the complimentary kit holds candies, shoe uppers, tissues, bottle coolers and other. The kit also has grown along with the history of Maharajas Express.

In 2013, the kit had just pith helmets and shoe uppers. The amenities and facilities inside the train have not changed a lot in these eight years. When the train started its first few year, the excursions were done in private buses. Today, they have evolved to luxury cars and coaches.

Over this span of years, the train has managed to keep a few things intact like, the design and the color of its exterior, the royalty décor of the cabins and most importantly, the hospitality with a broad smile.


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