The Central Railway (CR) added a Vistadome coach to the Deccan Queen on its Mumbai-Pune route from August 15. This will be the second train along this route to have the Vistadome coach.
The coach received an overwhelming response in its first run with all its seats being occupied.
"First run of Vistadome Coach on Deccan Queen was fully occupied and passengers have given overwhelming response. The passengers were elated and happy that the Vistadome coach is attached to Mumbai – Pune Deccan Queen Express from 15th August 2021," the Central Railway's official Twitter handle wrote.
The General Manager of Central Railways also acknowledged the event. "First run of Vistadome Coach on Deccan Queen housefull - overwhelming response by passengers on 16.8.2021 also. Happy that the Vistadome coach is attached to Mumbai – Pune Deccan Queen Express from 15th August 2021," he wrote on Twitter.
The bookings for the Vistadome coach commenced on 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 leaves Pune at 7.15am and arrives at CSMT at 10.25am, while train number 02123 leaves CSMT at 5.10pm and arrives in Pune at 8.25pm. The composition of coaches 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 are 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.
(With inputs from Shashank Rao)
