Deccan Queen
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The 12123 / 12124 Deccan Queen is a daily Indian passenger train service operated by the
Central Railway zone Central Railway (abbreviated CR) is one of the 19 zones of Indian Railways. Its headquarters is in Mumbai at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus. It has the distinction of operating the first passenger railway line in India, which opened from ...
of the
Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...
connecting the cities of
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
. Introduced on June 1, 1930, the Deccan Queen was India's "first superfast train, first long-distance electric-hauled train, first vestibuled train, the first train to have a ‘women-only’ car, and the first train to feature a dining car". The service name comes from the
Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...
nickname "" (Queen of the Deccan), a popular nickname for Pune. Deccan Queen is currently the fastest train service linking
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST ( suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was ...
and
Pune Junction Pune Junction railway station (station code: PUNE) is the main railway junction of the city of Pune, India. It is one of the major railway junctions in Maharashtra. Pune Junction consists of 6 platforms. It also has a suburban train network. ...
. It has an average operating speed of including stops, and a top speed of . The train's long history and common use as a commuter train has gained it significant popularity, including annual celebrations of its "birthday" on June 1 at Pune Junction. It was hauled by a Kalyan-based
WCAM-3 The Indian locomotive class WCAM–3 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives That was developed in 1997 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the third locomotives from the WCAM cla ...
end to end up until June 2022. From June 2022, its upgraded coaches in a new livery are being hauled by a Ajni-based
WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 Volt, kV Alternating current, AC Electric locomotive, electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for 5 ft 6 ...
.


History

''Deccan Queen'' service was introduced on 1 June 1930 as a weekend train with two rakes of seven coaches each. The first service of the train was conducted from Calyan (now
Kalyan Kalyan (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əljaːɳ is a city on the banks of Ulhas River in Thane district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division. It is governed by Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Kalyan is a subdivision (Taluka) ...
) and Pune in the
Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, apparently in order to ferry rich patrons from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Poona (now Pune) to attend
horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
at
Pune Race Course Pune Race Course is a racecourse located in Pune Cantonment, western India. It is located 5–6 km from downtown Pune and 12–13 km from Pune airport. Built in 1830, it covers . The land is controlled by the Indian Army. Additional st ...
. Initially, one coach was painted in silver with scarlet mouldings, while the others were painted in royal blue with gold lines. The underframes of the coaches of the original rakes were built in England, while the coach bodies were built in the Matunga Workshop of the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway The Great Indian Peninsula Railway (reporting mark GIPR) was a predecessor of the Central Railway (and by extension, the current state-owned Indian Railways), whose headquarters was at the Boree Bunder in Mumbai (later, the Victoria Terminu ...
. The service initially included first and second class seating, but the first class was replaced by a redesigned second class on January 1, 1949, until third class seating was introduced in June 1955. In 1966, the coaches were replaced by "anti-telescopic, steel-bodied integral coaches" built by
Integral Coach Factory Integral Coach Factory (ICF) is a manufacturer of ICF coach, rail coaches located in Perambur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1955 and is owned and operated by the Indian Railways. It is located in Perambur, in the suburbs of ...
,
Perambur Perambur is a neighbourhood located in the northern region of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Etymology In Tamil, ''pirambu (பிரம்பு)'' means bamboo and ''ur (ஊர்)'' means city or place. Before British rule, this place was wid ...
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
, and the rake was lengthened to twelve coaches. Third class seating was re-designated second-class seating in April 1974. The ''Deccan Queen'' is also one of the most favourite trains among
railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...
s. Every year on 1 June, its regular pass-holders, railfans and railway authorities celebrate the train's birthday. ''Deccan Queen'' entered its 90th year of service on 1 June 2019. On 19 August 2020, Central Railways announced an allocation of brand new
LHB coach Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coach is a passenger coach of Indian Railways that is developed by Linke-Hofmann-Busch of Germany (renamed Alstom LHB GmbH in 1998 after the takeover by Alstom and now known as Alstom Transport Deutschland) and mostly ...
coupled with a simultaneous introduction of a unique culturally significant "Green-Brown-Yellow" curvilinear stripe livery on all of the coaches of Deccan Queen. The unique new livery has been finalized after numerous consultations with commuters as well as Design Engineers. The new livery features a dark green-colored main background, with brown and yellow curvilinear stripes, that run from the right end of the coach and end at 2/3rds of the length of the coach thereby giving the rake a unique GenZ look that is bound to make heads turn in conjunction with eyebrows raised. In addition, a selection of such a dark Green livery would ensure that the train's color does not get adversely impacted at the time of the Indian Monsoon. This train will now run with an introduction of push–pull Technology and head-on generation-equipped WAP-7 three-phase electric locomotives of Kalyan Electric Loco Shed, which will also have the same livery as the rest of the train. The unique Dine-in pantry car of this legendary train will still be retained although in a fresh new LHB avatar.


Incidents

On 29 December 1953, Bombay-bound Deccan Queen collided at Masjid Bunder station with another local train at 1025 hours on 29 December 1953. Five persons received grievous injuries and 42 others minor ones. The approximate cost of damage to railway property was Rs. 12,600. The Government Inspector of Railways, Bombay, held his statutory enquiry into this accident. His Provisional Finding is that the accident was caused by the failure on the part of the Driver of the Deccan Queen. The train derailed in 1990 at
Khandala Ghat Bhor Ghat is a mountain pass located between and for railway and between Khopoli and Khandala on the road route in Maharashtra, India, on the crest of the Western Ghats. History In February 1781, Bhorghat was the site of a battle between ...
, casualties were not reported. The train service was disturbed between late July to early August 2005 due to heavy rainfall in Mumbai (26 July 2005). On 30 November 2006, a mob of around 6,000 protestors set fire to some coaches of the train near
Ulhasnagar Ulhasnagar is a city in Thane district, Maharashtra, India. This city is a part of Mumbai Metropolitan Region managed by MMRDA. It had an estimated population of 506,098 at the 2011 Census. Ulhasnagar is a municipal city and the headquarters of ...
after forcing the passengers to get down. The arsonists were protesting against the vandalism of a statue of
B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
in far away Kanpur though the incident had nothing to do with the ''Deccan Queen''.


Schedule

This service consists of two routes: * 12124 Pune–Mumbai Deccan Queen leaves Pune Junction every day at 0715 hrs IST and reaches Mumbai CSMT at 1025 hrs IST. The train travels non-stop till Lonavala after leaving Pune junction. On its way the train overtakes
Sahyadri Express Named after the famous Sahyadri mountain range that forms part of the Western Ghats in Maharashtra, 11023 / 11024 Sahyadri Express was one of 3 daily dedicated express trains managed by Indian Railways, that ply between Mumbai and Kolhapur in ...
at Shivajinagar / . Then it crosses the Bhor ghat and skips Karjat. The train then stops at Dadar (Central) station after traveling from Lonavala and finally terminates at Mumbai CSMT. It is the second (out of six) Pune–Mumbai trains to leave Pune Junction in the morning. * 12123 Mumbai–Pune Deccan Queen leaves Mumbai CSMT every day at 1710 hrs IST and reaches Pune Junction at 2025 hrs IST. On its way the train halts at after covering from Mumbai CSMT for bank locomotive attachment. Then it halts at after crossing Bhor Ghat where bank locomotives are detached. Then the train halts at , a major suburb of Pune before terminating at Pune junction. It is the last daily Mumbai–Pune train to leave CSMT in the evening. Due to the suburban network, Deccan Queen's arrival in Mumbai is affected by up to 30 minutes. However, it is still the fastest train between Pune and Mumbai CSMT.


Train


Rake

Initially this train ran with two different rakes: one colored silver with scarlet moldings and other royal blue, both manufactured England. Only First Class and Second Class were used in seven-coach rake till June 1955 after which Third Class was also introduced. Initially there were seven coaches which were increased to 12. Eventually, the train used
ICF coach The Integral Coach Factory (ICF) coach was a conventional passenger coach used on the majority of main-line trains in India. The design of the coach was developed by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai, India in collaboration with the Sw ...
manufactured i India. This train had 17 coaches which included different classes like AC chair car, MST coaches (Monthly Season Ticket), Ladies special, Second class sitter, Reserved coaches and General Coaches. The rake was attached with bankers from to while traveling from Mumbai CSMT to Pune Junction in order to cross steep climbs of the
Bhor Ghat Bhor Ghat is a mountain pass located between and for railway and between Khopoli and Khandala on the road route in Maharashtra, India, on the crest of the Western Ghats. History In February 1781, Bhorghat was the site of a battle between th ...
. In June 2021, the train was upgraded to 17 LHB coach also manufactured in India under Project Utkrisht. These coaches have LED lights, Bio toilets and Braille Signage. GPS-tagged biometric attendance system were also installed in this train. Eventually, the consist was reduced to 15 LHB coach This included a
Dining Car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a railroad passenger car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. It is distinct from other railroad food service cars that ...
which is ISO certified. ; Mumbai CSMT–Pune Junction ; Pune Junction–Mumbai CSMT


Locomotives

When it was introduced in 1930, the Deccan Queen was hauled by WCP 1/2 DC passenger locomotives. From 1954 till the 1990s, it was hauled by a WCM-1/2/4/5 DC mixed locomotive. From the 1990s till present, it has been hauled end to end by a
WCAM-3 The Indian locomotive class WCAM–3 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives That was developed in 1997 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the third locomotives from the WCAM cla ...
or
WCAM-2/2P The Indian locomotive class WCAM-2 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the second locomotive from the WCAM class ...
DC/AC locomotive of the Kalyan shed. Starting 1 June 2018, on its 88th anniversary, it will be occasionally hauled by the
WAP-7 The Indian locomotive class WAP-7 is a class of 25 Volt, kV Alternating current, AC Electric locomotive, electric locomotives that was developed in 1999 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) for Indian Railways. The model name stands for 5 ft 6 ...
of the Ajni shed.12123/Deccan Queen
India Rail Info
At , it gets two or three
WAG-5 The Indian locomotive class WAG-5 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1978 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic ( ...
,
WAG-7 The Indian locomotive class WAG-7 is a class of 25 kV AC electric locomotives that was developed in 1990 by Chittaranjan Locomotive Works for Indian Railways. The model name stands for broad gauge (W), alternating current (A), goods traffic (G ...
,
WCAM-2 The Indian locomotive class WCAM-2 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives that was developed in 1995 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the second locomotive from the WCAM class ...
or
WCAM-3 The Indian locomotive class WCAM–3 is a class of dual-power AC/DC series electric locomotives That was developed in 1997 by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited used in the Indian Railways system. They are the third locomotives from the WCAM cla ...
bankers of Kalyan shed to push the train on the ghat section between
Karjat railway station Karjat (station code: KJT/S for ''South'' (local)) is a railway station on the Central line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network. Karjat is a major rail terminus, connected via local trains to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus Mumbai, ...
and
Lonavala railway station Lonavala railway station is a railway station in Lonavala, a hill station in the state of Maharashtra in India. Lonavala station is the origin of Lonavala– Suburban Trains. 17 suburban trains operate on the Pune–Lonavala route. Lonavla is a ...
, where the gradient is of 1 in 40.


Sister trains

*
Dedicated Intercity trains of India This article seeks to list all the trains that ply between two cities in India. The trains listed in the set of cities must be the originating & terminating cities respectively. Only Cities with more than one train between them to be listed. Ahm ...
:


See also

*
Mumbai–Pune Passenger Mumbai – Pune passenger was a daily slow passenger train connecting the cities of Mumbai and Pune. This train originated from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and terminated at Pune Junction. This train used to travel via Kalyan and used t ...
*
Flying Ranee The 12921/12922 ''Flying Ranee'' is a superfast express train belonging to Indian Railways that runs between (MMCT) and (ST) in India. It is a daily service. It operates as train number 12922 from Surat to Mumbai Central and as train number ...
* Flying Mail


References


External links


''Classic Trains of India: Deccan Queen'' by S. Shankar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Deccan Queen Express trains in India Transport in Pune Railway services introduced in 1930 Rail transport in Maharashtra Mumbai–Pune trains Transport in Mumbai