Passengers travelling on the Mumbai-Pune route will now have a panoramic view of the Western ghats through the Vistadome coach in trains. The Central Railway (CR) for the first time will be introducing a Vistadome coach in their Deccan Express Special Train starting June 26. This train service has been restored by the CR authorities which was non-operational briefly in this lockdown due to poor response.
The Vistadome coach will provide passengers with unhindered views of river, valley, waterfalls, etc. on this train route while passing through Khandala and Lonavala ghats. At present, the Vistadome coach is running in Mumbai-Madgaon Jan Shadabdi Special train.
“Passengers on Mumbai-Pune route can enjoy the scenic beauty and experience being with nature while passing near to Matheran hill (Near Neral), Songir hill (near Palasdhari), Ulhas River (near Jambrung), Ulhas Valley, areas of Khandala, Lonavala, etc. and the waterfalls, tunnels on South East Ghat section,” said Shivaji Sutar, Chief PRO, Central Railway.
The basic special features include wide window panes and glass roof top, rotatable seats and pushback chairs, etc. The Vistadome coach is a 40 seater 360-degree view coach that is glass-roofed. The glass roof lets passengers enjoy the outside view. The coaches have wide window panes, and seats that rotate to 360 degrees to provide passengers with a better sightseeing experience.
The coaches also have 12 LCD television screens for entertainment, a mini-fridge, automatic sliding compartment doors, an oven, juicer grinder and toilets fitted with ceramic tiles. The fare structure of the coach in the Deccan Express has not yet been decided but will be higher than the fare of a regular ticket.
The 01007 Deccan Express special will leave Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 7am daily with effect from June 26 and arrive in Pune at 11.05am. Likewise the 01008 Deccan Express special will leave Pune at 3.15pm daily starting June 26 and arrive at CSMT at 7.05pm on the same day.
This train will halt at Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Neral (only for 01007), Lonavala, Talegaon, Khadki and Shivaji Nagar. The coach composition of this train will be One Vistadome coach, Three AC Chair Car, 10 Second Class Seating and One Second class seating cum guard’s brake van. The reservation for ticket will open on June 24. Only passengers having confirmed tickets will be permitted to board this special train, adhering all norms, SOPs related to Covid-19 during the boarding, travel and at destination.
Initially, the coach was introduced on the Mumbai-Goa route in 2017 for passengers to get the view of the Western Ghat in the Jan Shatabdi Express.
