Kalka-Shimla route to have glass-enclosed ‘vistadome’ coaches

Indian Railways will run a glass-enclosed ‘vistadome’ coach on the Kalka-Shimla route in the next ten days. It was announced by Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Coal, Government of India, on his twitter page.

“A view of the glass-enclosed Vistadome coach in Kalka, which is scheduled to run on the Kalka-Shimla route in the next 10 days. For the first time, tourists in Shimla will experience snow & rainfall in these glass-enclosed coaches and truly relish Himachal’s scenic landscape” tweeted the minister.

Interior of the coach

Passengers can have a 360 degree view of the beautiful Himalayan landscape around them, while sitting inside the Kalka-Shimla train. The vista-dome coach, which will run on the 95.5 km route, has been built in Vadodhara in 100 days at a cost of around Rs 10 lakh.

The coach has a capacity of 36 seats at the moment and there is going to be a provision for toilets and catering in the coaches that are to follow in the future. The train will currently run at a speed of 25 km/hr and will be raised up to 35 km/hr gradually. Tickets for this see-through coach, intending mostly to foreign tourists, are likely to cost more than Rs 500 per seat.

“This coach is an old second-class coach which has been refurbished. Seats have been upgraded and we have installed glass all around so that the tourists can sit in the train and enjoy the beauty of the area without even stepping out,” said DC Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager.

In this new initiative by the Indian Railways, you could reach from Kalka to Shimla in five hours straight. There are a handful of other upgraded exciting features in the coach –  from cushioned wooden interiors, LED lights to window blinds, making the journey as comfortable as possible for the passengers.

Kalka-Shimla railway route

The railway authorities are also working to reduce the journey time to four hours, so that more and more people avail the service. In 2009, the Kalka-Shimla rail track was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.  And now with the Vista-dome coach, it is truly going to be an experience witnessing rainfall and snow from inside the train while soaking in the gorgeous Himachal landscape.