The Vistadome coach which provides breathtaking views of the scenic hills near Arakku, introduced on 58501/02 Visakhapatnam-Kirandul-Visakhapatnam in April 2017, is being sent for its scheduled Periodic Overhaul(POH) and will not be available on this train from May 1 to 31, 2019.
The composition of train no. 58501/02 will be revised as given below during the above period. The train would have one 3rd AC coach to replace the Vistadome coach for a month, apart from the regular composition of one Sleeper class, two chair cars, seven general class, two SLR coaches, according to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Waltair Division, G. Suneel Kumar. The train is run by the Waltair (Visakhapatnam) division of the East Coast Railway.
Railpost.in viewpoint: The vistadome coach is hugely popular amongst the tourists visiting the Araku valley which is one of the highest points in South India and the only hill station in Eastern Andhra Pradesh and Orissa region. The popularity of the coach can be gauged by the availability position for the next few days before it goes out for the proposed overhaul and shows up as booking suspended for the next month. April and May are the busiest months for the region with thousands of tourists visiting.
While we agree that POH is absolutely essential for the health of the coach and safety of the passengers, this clearly underlines a lack of planning and anticipation on the part of the organization. ECoR could have either anticipated this and completed the POH before March or delayed it till June when the rush subsides.
Passengers too have vent their feelings on this.
Incapable to get 2nd vistadome coach but sends the only coach for PoH a huge loss of revenue to WAT Don’t be lazy, things won’t be same with Vijayawada division Be ready to choose between #Odisha & #AndhraPradesh Things won’t be same in #SouthCoastRailway Show performance or quit
— Visakhapatnam Jn (@VisakhapatnamJn) April 14, 2019
And officials continued to give canned responses.
Matter notified to officials concerned @srdomwat
— DRMWALTAIR (@drmwat_ecor) April 14, 2019
Images courtesy: The Hindu