Within a day of opening of booking for travel on Vistadome coaches to be attached to Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur day train services, 73 seats have been booked by enthusiastic travellers for the maiden service from Mangaluru to Bengaluru by Train No 06540 Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur Weekly Express Special on Sunday (July 11).
South Western Railway has proposed to attach two each Vistadome coaches on Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur day trains and detach one each general class coach from them effective Sunday. Each Vistadome coach accommodates 44 passengers. Bookings for these services were opened on Wednesday early morning. The fare between Yeshwantpur and Mangaluru is ₹1,395, including GST.
According to CPRO Aneesh Hegde, 73 seats were booked as on Thursday evening by travellers eager to watch the beauty of the Western Ghats between Subrahmanya Road Station and Sakleshpur Railway Station where the trains pass on the edges of the hills and through multiple tunnels.
A file photo of tourists enjoying the view from the rear deck of a vistadome coach.
As many as 31 seats have been so far booked on Train No 06211 Yeshwantpur-Karwar Tri-weekly Special Express, the maiden service from Bengaluru towards Mangaluru, on Monday.
Upon introduction, Mangaluru-Bengaluru section becomes the first one in the State to get Vistadome coaches while they are already in service between Mumbai and Goa and Mumbai and Pune sections. With wide window panes on the sides as well on the rear and transparent ceiling, Vistadome coaches offer panoramic view of the surroundings to travellers. Reclining seats of these coaches that can rotate by 180 degrees offer much leeway to passengers to peep into the external world.
From Monday onwards, two sets of tri-weekly special express and one weekly special express between Yeshwantpur-Mangaluru Junction-Yeshwantpur running during the day time will get Vistadome coaches.
The tri-weekly express services (06211 and 06575) leave Yeshwantpur at 7 a.m. to reach Mangaluru Junction at 5 p.m. and in the return direction, they (06212/06575) leave Mangaluru Junction at 11.30 a.m. to reach Yeshwantpur at 8.20 p.m.
The weekly special, 06539 too leaves Yeshwantpur at 7 a.m. to reach Mangaluru Junction at 5 p.m. on Saturdays; however, its pairing service, 06540 leaves Mangaluru Junction at 9.15 a.m. to reach Yeshwantpur at 8.05 p.m. on Sundays.
