Passengers travelling from Mumbai to Goa ill soon be able to experience the journey on double decker trains. Months of testing have finally earned the proposal a clearance from the Research Design Standards Organisation (RDSO), the railways’ technical authority. Double decker trains are not new to India but they are certainly a first for Konkan Railways.
RDSO experts from the Central and Konkan Railways inspected the trial run conducted between Roha and Margao on May 20. One of the issues that needed to be dealt with was the height. Other long distance trains navigate through 68 tunnels between Roha and Margao.
Other double decker trains run between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bengaluru and the more recently, Kancheguda and Tirupati. Although the Chennai-Bangaluru route service was criticised for technical glitches of broken air-conditioning and no station announcing facilities, the Kanchenguda-Tirupati services received a thumbs up.
The success of the Mumbai-Goa train service is yet to be seen. Though no date has been released for the maiden journey, passengers are
certainly looking forward to it. Possible slots include the Dadar-Madgaon Janshatabdi which leaves Dadar at 5.25 am
and reaches Margao at 2.10 pm while the return leaves at 2.30pm and reaches Dadar at 11.05pm, completing 571 km in 8 hours and
45 minutes. The Madgaon- Mumbai Konkankanya Express also runs everyday services that leave at 4.45 pm and reach CST
at 5.50 am. Pricing for the new services are yet to be announced as well, but with the recent 14 perccent hike in railway fares, prices for the double decker may very well reflect this hike. Currently the Janshatabdi Mumbai to Goa AC services saw a hike from Rs 825 to Rs 930 while the general seating category saw a hike from Rs 197 to Rs 230.
The double decker range will also bring relief to the many that find it difficult to travel at short notices. It will provide seating for 1,440
passengers in 12 compartments as compared to the conventional 876. Buses carry 40-45 passengers.
