The Vistadome coaches, which were lying idle for over a month at the coach depot in the city, are likely to start rolling at last with Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu scheduled to flag off the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul-Visakhapatnam train with the new coaches attached, on November 22.
The Vice-President is scheduled to visit Visakhapatnam on November 21 and stay in the city till November 24. He is scheduled to flag off the train on November 22, according to a communication received by the District Collector’s Office.
“We are yet to get any information from the Railway Board in this regard,” Divisional Railway Manager Anup Satpathy told The Hindu, when asked on Wednesday morning. He, however, said that the plan was to use two new Vistadome coaches till Araku. The two coaches would be detached at Araku and again attached to the Kirandul-Visakhapatnam train in the evenings for the benefit of tourists.
“The train will also get new LHB coaches. The old Vistadome coach will be sent for POH (periodic overhaul) for maintenance,” Mr. Satpathy said.
The Hindu had reported in these columns in the November 11 edition (Denizens’ wait for Vistadome coaches getting longer) that the Vistadome coaches were confined to the coach depot for over a month despite the huge demand, depriving tourists of a pleasant experience during the peak season as well as the Railways of revenue.
