Golden Chariot Hoping for More Success & Profits in its 10th Year

Golden Chariot, the South Indian luxury train, now aims to rake in more money in 2026. Started in 2008, Golden Chariot is in its 17th year of commercial run. After multiple successful trips, Indian Railways and Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) now aim to gain more profits from the Golden Chariot train. The duo has decided to call tenders and select operators who will help them in achieving this target. As per trusted sources, KSTDC and IRCTC have planned to outsource some of the important functionalities of the marketing and services of Golden Chariot.

The vendor will be responsible for helping customers to book tickets, or in other words, in ticket-selling activity. Some of the other tasks which the vendor needs to perform are publicity and planning on behalf of the Golden Chariot train.

Till last month, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) was solely responsible for ticket sales of Golden Chariot; that is, tickets were available on their website or at their ticket counters. KSTDC and Indian Railways will now be in a revenue-sharing model in this ticket-selling activity along with the existing fixed component policy.

As per the sources, the train was not able to incur much profit because of the previous completely fixed revenue model. In this traditional model, the train was paying 35 lakhs as variable haulage charge and 20 lakhs as fixed charge to the operators. The charges for the occupancy rate were also high, approximately 35%.

After a long discussion between the Railway Board members, the revenue model was decided to be implemented in the early months of this year; the revenue ratio has been decided as 56:44. The contract of the operator with Golden Chariot has also expired recently.

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New Trips

Golden Chariot will now plan more trips as part of this new profit-earning strategy. The train even planned a few shorter trips on day 2 or 3 during Dussehra in 2025. At present the train has only couple of tours, namely, Pride of the Karnataka (Bengaluru, Nanjangud, Mysore, Halebidu, Chikamgaluru, Hospet, Goa, Bengaluru) and Jewels of South (Golden Chariot) (Bengaluru, Mysore, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Thanjavur Thanjavur, Chettinad/Karaikudi, Cochin, Marali Chertala / Maraikulam, Bengaluru) and Glimpses of Karnataka (Golden Chariot) (Bengaluru, Nanjangud, Mysore, Hospet, Bengaluru).

Must Read: What is the Ticket Price of Golden Chariot Train?

As the haulage charge was more, the train had to reduce the number of trips to recover the charges. The train operated only during the peak season, that is, during the winters. Now, as the new revenue model and a new operator are in place, the administration is planning to have more trips.

At present, the train does not operate during the summer and monsoons. The train officials are also planning to start trips during the off-season to generate more revenue. They also confirmed that the train will still be in maintenance for 45 days to ensure smooth operations. At present, KSTDC is completely focused on getting an operator before Dussehra this year.

Check out: 

Golden Chariot Route Map
Golden Chariot Train History
Golden Chariot Facility
Golden Chariot Images Gallery
Golden Chariot Train Videos

Golden Chariot was started in 2008 with 44 super luxurious cabins. The train has been an epitome of the aesthetic ambiance and rich culture of South India over the years.