The Central Railway (CR) is planning to replace the current rakes of the famous ‘Deccan Queen’ with new Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches by January 2022.
The LHB coaches have better safety features, improved travelling experience, better suspension system and better riding comfort.
“The Deccan Queen is expected to have the state-of-the-art LHB coaches, including a dining car,” said chief public relations officer of CR, Shivaji Sutar.
“The concept of dining cars in trains is not there anymore. With the Deccan Queen getting LHB coaches, its dining car will also be transformed. It will accommodate 40 people instead of the present capacity to seat 32 people,” he added.
Hundreds of passengers who live in Pune and work in Mumbai use this train every day.
Initially, the train was introduced with two rakes of seven coaches, each painted in silver with scarlet mouldings and the other with royal blue with gold lines. The underframes of the coaches of the original rakes were built in England while the coach bodies were built in the Matunga Workshop.
The coaches of the original rakes were replaced in 1966 by anti-telescopic steel bodied integral coaches built by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. These coaches incorporated the improved design of bogies for better riding comfort and improvements in the interior furnishings and fittings. Over the year the number of coaches in the train has been increased to the present level of 17 coaches.
The introduction of “Deccan Queen” between the two premier cities of Maharashtra on 1st June 1930 was a significant landmark in the history of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, the forerunner of the Central Railway.
This was the first deluxe train introduced on the railway to serve two important cities of the region and was aptly named after Pune, which is also known as “Queen of Deccan” (“Dakkhan ki Rani”).
