Deccan Queen still going strong despite stiff competition from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
IANS/Mumbai
Decades before the country’s first expressway connected Mumbai and Pune, a prestigious train, Deccan Queen, was the prime link to the two cities - India’s commercial capital and the educational capital of what was then Bombay state.
Yesterday, the venerable Deccan Queen turned a healthy 85 and is still going strong - despite stiff competition from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway since 2002 and certain other trains on this crucial sector of Central Railway.
Started in June 1930 by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway (GIPR), the forerunner to Central Railway, the Deccan Queen was the first luxury train that contributed immensely to the trade, commerce, business, academia, culture, tourism and social ties between the two cities separated by the awesome Western Ghats.
Started modestly with two rakes (trains) of seven coaches, each painted silver with scarlet mouldings and royal blue with gold lines, the original model was built in England while the coach bodies were constructed at the Matunga Workshop of GIPR.
Keeping in mind the travellers, it had only first and second class configuration until 1948.
In January 1949, the first class was abolished and the second class was redesigned as first class. This continued up to June 1955.
Later, a third class was introduced (June 1955) and this was re-designated as second class in April 1974.
The Deccan Queen also underwent other changes over the years. In 1966, the original British-built rakes were replaced by anti-telescopic steel-bodied coaches built by the Integral Coach Factory in Perambur, Chennai.
“These coaches incorporated improved design of bogies for better riding comfort and also improvements in the interior furnishings and fittings. The number of coaches in the rake was also increased to 12 from the original seven, providing additional accommodation, and today there are 17 coaches,” said a Central Railway spokesman.
Until the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was built, the train was patronised by top Bollywood and Marathi film stars, industrialists, international celebrities and political leaders who could be seen stepping out of their swank cars to board it from either Victoria Terminus (now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) or Dadar.
Again in 1995, the rakes were totally replaced and the existing distinctive colour scheme of cream and oxford blue with a red band above the window level was adopted for the train to satisfy growing aspirations of the travelling public.
Despite the short running time - a little over three hours - the Deccan Queen is among the few which offers a dining car with table service for 32 passengers at a time.
There are thousands of office-goers who live in Pune but commute daily by the train to work in Mumbai and vice-versa.
