New AC double-decker to be flagged off from December 6

Eight months after the last air-conditioned double-decker Mumbai-Goa train was shut down and its coaches handed over by Central Railway (CR) to Southern Railway (SR), Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu is all set to revive the service on December 6 when he flags off the Madgaon-Mumbai train via remote. The train will start from Madgaon station at 3.30 pm on Sunday and will halt at Thane, Panvel, Khed, Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Kankavali, Sawantwadi Road, Thivim and Karmali to and from Mumbai.

The train bearing number 11085 with 10 AC chair-car coaches will leave Lokmanya Tilak Terminus every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at about 5.30 am and reach Madgaon at about 5.30 pm the same day. Similarly, the train will leave Madgaon every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at about 6.00 am and reach LTT at about 5.10 pm the same day.

The first Mumbai-Goa double-decker was started in August 2014 but was a flop with only 100 out of 960 tickets sold with tickets priced at Rs 1,055 apiece. This train made 27 trips to and fro every month. By contrast, the current 10 coaches include power coaches that will provide the necessary juice for air-conditioning and are a mix of coaches procured from different railway zones.

The biggest upside in terms of ticketing of the new double-decker is that it will be under “Suvidha” scheme of Indian Railways where, unlike its predecessor, tickets will also be available at the counter and not only online. Fares for these trains will be more than those for normal trains and minimum fares will be in the range of Tatkal fare of that particular class.