A new luxury train to cover Sikh shrines will be launched soon, announced Rakesh Tandon, Managing Director of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). This new luxury train traversing 6 Sikh religious shrines will be launched on 23rd December 2011 from Chandigarh and will be called ‘Takht Express’.

The announcement was made in Beijing where Mr. Tandon is on a mission to promote the ‘Mahaparinirvana Express’, a Buddhist tourist train. Mahaparinirvana Express is being run on the Buddhist tourist circuit in India and Nepal.

The move has not come as a surprise considering the success of luxury trains plying on religious routes among overseas tourists. Even last year Deccan Odyssey, an Indian luxury train, that made a similar run across 5 Sikh shrines, was a huge success.

Speaking to the press and travel agents in Beijing, Mr Tandon added that Takht Express was being launched following the growing demand for such luxury trains covering pilgrimage routes. The event in Beijing was a joint initiative of IRCTC and the Indian Embassy to promote the Mahaparinirvana Express among the Buddhists in China.