Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) flags off the new and improved Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen with an upgraded dining car and a new ambience on Sunday.
The upgrade came about after the iconic train went for its periodic-overhaul in Matunga workshop and the officials realised that the 87-year-old train needed more than just a regular touch up.
The walls of the train are now lined with photos of the train in its former glory. The entrance to the dining car has been replaced with better quality gates in order to facilitate a smoother movement and the corridor flooring has been changed to a chequered design, giving it a grander look.
The rest of the flooring inside the dining hall has been changed to PVC flooring.
The railways is trying to woo new passengers along with maintaining its present number of patrons.
A CR official said, “We need to introduce better and classier trains like the Hamsafar express on the Western Railways and the Tejas on our section, At the same time, we also need to improve the experience as our iconic trains like the Deccan Queen.”
CR’s chief public relations officer, Sunil Udasi said, “The changes have been made to make the travelling experience between the two cities a wonderful one.”
The Deccan Queen departed from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at 5.20 pm on Sunday with a new spring in its step.
From Mumbai to Pune
- The superfast Mum-Pune train called Dakkhan Ki Rani, made its maiden journey on June 1, 1930.
- It holds the record for being one of the first trains that ran on electricity instead of steam in those days.
