What are Vistadome coaches? Indian Railways' new fancy offering

Indian Railways' Integral Coach Factory in Chennai is all set to roll out the Vistadome tourist coaches. The ICF successfully completed the speed trials of the new design Vistadome tourist coaches. The coaches completed a 180 kmph oscillation trial.

The Vistadome coaches will run mostly in tourist locations where visitors can indulge in sightseeing. So far, some of the routes where these coaches are being 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, Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

So, what exactly are Vistadome coaches, offered by the Indian Railways? Check out the features:

These coaches are characterised by large glass windows, glass roof, observation lounge, rotatable seats so that passengers can witness the breathtaking locales of the routes.

The Vistadome tourist coaches are equipped with large viewing areas with roof top glasses and seats for passengers. The seats can rotate up to 180 degrees so that it can face the direction of the train movement. The coaches are also equipped with Wi-Fi based passenger information system.

The glass windows are laminated with glass sheets in order to protect them from shattering.

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.

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