40-seater dining car of iconic Deccan Queen arrives in Mumbai

The much-awaited classy, 40-seater dining car of the Deccan Queen train has finally arrived in Mumbai. With this, the complete Deccan Queen train is now in the city and will be formally flagged off in June, this year. This is Indian Railways's first LHB-class dining car.

Senior officials said the coach was transported to Mumbai and arrived by Vidarbha Express on Monday morning. Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar confirmed the development and said, "The first run of the new-look Deccan Queen train will be in June 2022."

Pic/Siddharth Nakhwa

"The new 40-seater dining car will have 10 dining tables and four chairs around each of its panoramic windows. Half of the coach will have a well-equipped kitchen with provisions for pantry storage, an electric cooking range, deep freezers and even a refrigerator, service table, multiple sinks and service counters for the manager," the official said.

The new Deccan Queen train in the ‘Restrained Imperium' colour shade had arrived in Mumbai in February and was awaiting the arrival of the dining car. "There will be trials and in addition to this, the booking date needs to be considered for the conversion of the train from ICF (Integral Coach Factory) class to LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) class as there is a difference in seating capacity and existing bookings will have to be considered," a senior official said.

The revised coach composition of new train is 15 coaches - 4 AC chair cars, 8 second class chair cars, 1 Vistadome coach, 1 AC dining car, guard-cum-brake van + generator car.

The Deccan Queen is the only train in the country that has a dining car for regular passenger use on Indian Railways.