Vistadome coaches attract 1.29 lakh passengers

Vistadome coaches have attracted more than 1.29 lakh passengers from April 2022 to February 2023. The Central Railway (CR) has been operating vistadome coaches in trains to Goa and Pune from Mumbai

Mumbai: Vistadome coaches have attracted more than 1.29 lakh passengers from April 2022 to February 2023. The Central Railway (CR) has been operating vistadome coaches in trains to Goa and Pune from Mumbai.

Mumbai, India - July 25, 2022: The Central Railway introduces newly-designed Vistadome coaches in the Mumbai-Pune intercity train, Pragati Express at CSTM, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

According to the CR, vistadome coaches have been attracting passengers in the past few months as they have added these coaches to popular trains like Deccan Queen, Deccan Express, Janshatabdi, Pragati Express and Tejas Express. Of these, Mumbai-Pune Pragati Express and CSMT-Karmali Tejas Express were added with vistadome coaches in July and September last year, respectively.

“Vistadome coaches feature transparent glass tops on the roof and wide window panes for passengers to enjoy breathtaking views of valleys, rivers and waterfalls along the Mumbai-Goa route and the Western Ghats on Mumbai-Pune route. From April last year to February 2023, the vistadome coaches generated a revenue of ₹17.16 crore from 1.29 lakh passengers,” a CR official said.

The Mumbai-Madgaon Janshatabdi Express is leading the way with an occupancy of over 100% after carrying 23,939 passengers thus registering revenue of ₹4.72 crore. Deccan Queen has seen an occupancy of 99% with a revenue of ₹2.03 crore, while Deccan Express recorded 100% occupancy with 27,370 passengers and generated a revenue of ₹1.83 crore.

Vistadome coaches were first introduced by the CR in Mumbai-Madgaon Janshatabdi Express in 2018. Due to the high demand, the second vistadome coach on Mumbai-Madgaon route was then attached to Tejas Express in September 2022.

It was also introduced on the Mumbai-Pune route in Deccan Express from June 2021. Two more vistadome coaches were attached to Deccan Queen in August 2021 and in Pragati Express in July 2022. The latest addition was in Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi Express in August last year.

The vistadome coaches apart from having a glass roof top have a number of other features like wide window panes, LED lights, rotatable seats and pushback chairs, electrically operated automatic sliding compartment doors, wide side sliding doors, toilets with ceramic tile flooring and a viewing gallery.