In a bid to give rail passengers a panoramic view, Deccan Queen will get a Vistadome coach. The Central Railway (CR) will make this operational from August 15 on its Mumbai-Pune route. This will be the second train along this route to have the Vistadome coach.
According to CR officials, bookings for the Vistadome coach will begin from August 8. “This is the second Vistadome coach being introduced on this route. The first was introduced on the CSMT-Pune Deccan Express special train on June 26. Considering the huge demand on this route and overwhelming response, we decided to attach one Vistadome coach in Deccan Queen Superfast Express special train as well,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief PRO, CR.
Train number 02124 will leave Pune at 7.15am and arrive at CSMT at 10.25am, while train number 02123 will leave CSMT at 5.10pm and arrive in Pune at 8.25pm. The composition of coaches will have one Vistadome coach, 4 four AC chair cars, nine second-class and two second-class seating with guard’s brake van and a pantry car.
The 91-year-old Deccan Queen is the only passenger train in the country which has a dining car. It offers tables for 32 passengers and has modern pantry facilities like microwave, oven, toaster and freezer. It also has cushioned chairs.
Currently, all the 44 seats in Vistadome coach for CSMT-Pune Deccan Express is getting an occupancy between 90% and 100%. Here passengers will get unhindered views of rivers, valleys, waterfalls, and much more as the train passes through Khandala and Lonavala ghats, Songir hill (near Palasdhari), Ulhas river (near Jambrung), Ulhas valley, waterfalls and tunnels on the southeast Ghat section.
Only passengers having a confirmed ticket will be permitted to board the special train. They will also have to adhere to all norms and SOPs related to Covid before boarding.