Enthusiasm was seen all around, among passengers, Railway staff, security personnel and even the media personnel, when the first service of Vistadome coaches aimed at promoting Rail Tourism, was being flagged off at Mangaluru Junction Railway Station on Sunday.
For Sanvi, a Class 3 student at a Brahmavar school near Udupi, it was not the first journey to Bengaluru on a day train. But she wanted to be one of the first to travel the maiden service of Vistadome coaches on Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur weekly special express (06540) and her father Gopinath obliged to her wish. So, she was on the coach with her mother and younger brother while Mr. Gopinath came to see them off.
“I was waiting for the advance bookings to open from July 7 itself when it was originally scheduled to be introduced. Finally, I got tickets when bookings opened on July 11 and we came all the way from Brahmavar to be part of the maiden run of Vistadome coaches,” Mr. Gopinath told The Hindu. Having seen the beauty of Western Ghats between Subrahmanya Road and Sakleshpur Stations travelling in regular coaches of day trains, the Gopinath family wanted to savour the beauty through Vistadome coaches that have wider window panes, reclining and rotating seats and wide rear windows.
Similar was the case with Nithin Shenoy, insolvency professional settled in Bengaluru. Having heard about the introduction of Vistadome coaches and their maiden journey from Mangaluru on Sunday, he clubbed his professional work with the maiden travel and was on the train during the first journey. “I had travelled in night services; but am now travelling for the first time on the day service, that too on Vistadome coaches. I’m excited to watch the beauty of Western Ghats, particularly during this rainy season,” he said.
Passengers were seen clicking selfies, taking pictures of the interiors of the coaches and fellow passengers even as several visitors to the station too were busy in capturing the glimpses of the coaches. The South Western Railway has attached two Vistadome coaches on two tri-weekly and one weekly day train between Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction in order to capitalise the tourism potential of the section.
Both coaches, packed to their full capacity of 44 seats each, left Mangaluru Junction at the scheduled departure timing of 9.15 a.m. after being flagged off by MP and State BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, Mangaluru Mayor Premananda Shetty, MLA D. Vedavyasa Kamath, Divisional Railway Manager of Southern Railway’s Palakkad Division Trilok Kothari and others.
