Deccan Queen express to run with LHB coaches from June 22

Mumbai: The train Deccan Queen will have Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches from June 22, informed the officials on Tuesday.

The train running between Mumbai and Pune covers major stations including Dadar, Thane, Kalyan, Neral, Lonavala, Khadki and Pune.

"This train is the only one of its kind on Indian Railways to have a Restaurant Car, will now run with LHB coaches from June 22," Central Railway's general manager Anil Kumar Lahoti.

'Deccan Queen' was introduced between the two premier cities of Maharashtra-- Pune and Mumbai on June 1, 1930. The train was restored by the special train services with a 'Vistadome coach' last year.

Speaking about the Vistadome coach, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of Central Railways said, "The air-conditioned coach has glass panels on the roof and has large windows."

"Seats can rotate up to180 degrees, and the doors are button-operated," he added.

The Deccan Queen, initially, had only first class and second class accommodation. The first class was abolished on January 1, 1949, and the second class was redesigned as the first class, which continued up to June 1955 when the third class was introduced on this train for the first time. This was later re-designated as a second class from April 1974 onwards.

The coaches of the original rakes were replaced in 1966 by anti-telescopic steel-bodied integral coaches built by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. These coaches incorporated the improved design of bogies for better riding comfort and also improvements in the interior furnishings and fittings.

From its inception, apart from providing high standards of comfort to the passengers, the train had witnessed various improvements such as the introduction, for the first time in India, of coaches with roller bearings, the replacement of end on generation coaches with self-generating coaches with 110 volts system and introduction of first and second class chair cars providing increased accommodation to passengers.

The train Deccan Queen completed 92 years on Tuesday. (ANI)