Vistadome rail coaches offer breathtaking view of Western Ghats

Team Udayavani, Jul 11, 2021, 6:34 PM IST

Bengaluru: The South Western Railway has introduced two luxurious Vistadome coaches on day Express trains between Bengaluru and Mangaluru, offering a 180-degree panoramic view of the scenic western ghats to the passengers.

Chief Public Relation Officer of South Western Railway, Aneesh Hegde said this train route traverses through Western Ghats, specifically Sakleshpur-Subrahmanya Ghat section.

”The section is scenic, offers breathtaking glimpses of mountains, valleys, gorges and greenery. The region abounds in monsoon with even more beautiful scenery,” he added.

The train will have two vistadome coaches with each coach having a seating capacity of 44.

Seats are rotatable 180 degree whereas the wide and large windows will offer clear close up view to the passengers.

The Vistadome coach has been manufactured by Integral Coach Factory in Chennai on the LHB (Linke-Hofmann-Busch platform/technology).

There are glass rooftops which offer view of the sky to the passengers.

These rooftops have anti-glare screens too, the official said.

A passenger from Mangaluru, who took up the journey said she was really excited when she learnt about the Vistadome coaches introduced to the day trains between Mangaluru and Yashwantpur and decided to travel on it.

”My wish was to be part of the maiden journey and luckily i got the ticket,” she told reporters.

The coach is equipped with CCTV surveillance, fire safety systems, LED display, oven and refrigerator, mini pantry, multi-tiered steel luggage shelves, mobile charging socket on each seat, ‘content-on-demand’ viewable by passengers.

The coaches also have automatic sliding doors and bio- toilets.

”The seats have foldable snack tables, similar to that in aircrafts.

The coaches are installed with a GPS based public- address system and Braille signage to assist ‘Divyang’ (visually challenged) passengers.

There is also a space, sort of lounge, provided at the far end of the coach with a large viewing window,” the Chief PRO said.