Transparent roof, observation lounge and WiFi: Indian Railways unveils new 'Vistadome' tourist coaches

Indian Railways has unveiled new design 'Vistadome' tourist coaches

New Delhi: In yet another boost to rail tourism, the Indian Railways has introduced the new design vistadome tourist coach, which will make train journeys more memorable for the passengers in the days to come. Developed by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), the new design vistadome tourist coach successfully completed the 180 kmph trial run on Tuesday.

Making an announcement on Twitter, Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said, “Ending the Year on a Great Note: Indian Railways` successfully completed 180 kmph speed trial of new design vistadome tourist coach. These coaches will make train journeys memorable for the passengers and give further boost to tourism."

Ending the Year on a Great Note: Indian Railways' successfully completed 180 kmph speed trial of new design Vistadome tourist coach

These coaches will make train journeys memorable for the passengers & give further boost to tourism  pic.twitter.com/3JxeVbQClg — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) December 29, 2020

"The oscillation trial run was held last week, in which the newly built coach completed the 180 kmph test successfully in the Kota division of West Central Railway. The trial run was completed seven days earlier than scheduled," a senior railway ministry official said.

The squeeze test of the new vistadome coach was completed in ICF earlier this month." The vistadome tourist coach has a larger viewing area including roof top glass with 44 seats for passengers with rotation up to 180 degrees. The coach also has a Wi-Fi-based passenger information system.

Also, for the first time, the vistadome coach has been built on the LHB platform, which is safer. Among other stand-out features of the new vistadome coaches, they are equipped with air-spring suspension in secondary stage for better ride comfort, large glass windows and glass roof that boast electrically controlled opalescence, transparent roof for the passengers to get a panoramic view of their journey, observatory lounge with a larger window at one end.

In the newly built coaches, a mobile charging socket has been provided for each passenger below the seat armrest, an entertainment system integrated with digital display screens and speakers for music lovers. "Content on Demand" Wi-fi facility has been provided on personal gadgets of passengers, wider entrance doors for persons with disabilities on wheelchairs and automatic sliding doors at the compartment`s entry on both sides.

The new coaches are connected with GPS based Public Address-cum Passenger Information System (PAPIS), sunk-in type LED destination board, stainless steel multi-tier luggage racks outside the passenger area, mini pantry to provide refreshments to the passengers, service area consisting of hot case, microwave oven, coffee maker, bottle cooler, refrigerator and washbasin.

The new coaches are also equipped with a CCTV system for onboard surveillance and have aesthetically designed interiors and FRP panelling, FRP modular toilets with pressurized flushing system and bio tanks and automatic fire detection with an alarm system for safe travel.

The ICF will be manufacturing 10 such coaches at present. Two coaches have been rolled out and the remaining will be finished before March 31 next year. The two coaches which were rolled out have gone to the Central Railway, one of which had cleared the speed trials.

The older version of the vistadome coaches mostly run in tourist locations where visitors can indulge in sightseeing. Some of the routes where these coaches are operated by the Indian Railways are Dadar and Madgaon, Araku Valley, Kashmir Valley, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Kalka Shimla Railway, Kangra Valley Railway, Matheran Hill Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

The ICF has turned out nine rakes of state-of-the-art 3 phase MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) trains in December, the highest by any production unit of Indian Railways.

Here are some standout features of the new design vistadome coaches

• Bogies with Air-Spring suspension in secondary stage for better ride comfort
• Large glass windows and glass roof that boast electrically controlled opalescence
• Transparent roof for the passengers to get a panoramic view of their journey
• Observatory lounge with a larger window at one end
• Ergonomically designed ritzy reclining seats rotatable up to 180 degrees that make the passengers to enjoy the mixture of spectacular scenic views along the journey from all directions
• Charging socket provided for each passenger below the seat armrest
• Entertainment system integrated with Digital display screens and speakers for music lovers
• “Content on Demand” Wi-fi facility provided on personal gadgets of passengers
• Wider entrance doors for Divyangajan passengers with wheelchairs
• Automatic sliding doors at the compartment’s entry on both sides
• GPS based Public address cum Passenger Information system (PAPIS)
• Sunk-in type LED destination board
• Stainless Steel multi-tier luggage racks outside the passenger area
• Mini pantry to provide refreshments for the passengers
• Service area consisting of Hot case, Microwave Oven, Coffee Maker, Bottle Cooler, Refrigerator and washbasin
• CCTV system for board surveillance
• Aesthetically designed Coach interiors and FRP paneling
• FRP modular toilets with pressurized flushing system and bio tanks
• Aspiration type automatic Fire detection with an alarm system for safe travel