Vistadome on tracks today: Take a Mumbai-Goa ride on coach with glass roof, rotating chairs and LCD TVs

The Vistadome coach’s features include wide windowpanes and a roof that turns transparent with a button.

The Central Railway is introducing its first Vistadome coach, which has a glass roof, rotating chairs and LCD television, on the Mumbai-Goa route from Monday.

The Indian Railways’ Vistadome coach debuts on Monday. (Central Railway/Twitter)

A Vistadome (glass-top) coach will be attached to the Jan Shatabdi Express running between Dadar and Madgaon from September 18, the Central Railway’s chief public relations officer Sunil Udasi said on Saturday.

This Rs 3.38 crore coach was received by the railways at its headquarters, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, in the first week of September.

Features

The Vistadome is a first-of-its-kind coach with a glass top in the Indian Railways.

It’s special features include wide windowpanes and a roof that turns transparent with a button. Passengers will be able see the entire landscape of the Western Ghats.

The seats of the coach rotate 360 degrees with pushback facility. It also has 12 LCD television screens for entertainment, a mini fridge, automatic sliding compartment doors, an oven, juicer grinder and toilets fitted with ceramic tiles.

The features of the Vistadome coach include LCD TV, mini-firdge and rotating chairs.

Commuters take a first look of the Vistadome coach at CSMT railway station in Mumbai.

Passenger information

Inside the Vistadome coach, at Wadibunder in Mumbai.

The coach has wide window panes that will offer the view of the landscape.

“There shall be no concession and all passengers will be charged at full fare. Minimum chargeable distance shall be 50km,” the official added.

Jan Shatabdi Express departs at 5.25am from Dadar and it reaches Madgaon at 4pm the same day. The train will run three times a week during the monsoon period and five days a week once the monsoon gets over.

Bookings

The booking for the coaches, built at The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, opened at all computerised reservation centres and on IRCTC website on Sunday, the official said.

A single ticket to the coach will cost Rs 2,235.

Former railway minister Suresh Prabhu, while launching the initiative a few months back, had said the Vistadome coaches were being introduced for the first time in the country to promote tourism.

(With PTI inputs)