Deccan Queen
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The Deccan Queen, also called dakhkhanchii raaNii (दख्खनची राणी) in Marathi, is an Indian passenger train that connects Mumbai with Pune. It is a daily means of transport for thousands of passengers travelling between the two cities.
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[edit] Schedule
Deccan Queen departs from Pune Station towards Mumbai at 07:15 IST and reaches CST, Mumbai at 10:30 IST. It leaves CST, Mumbai on the same day at 17:10 IST (5:10 PM IST) and reaches Pune Station at 20:25 IST (8:25 PM IST) on the same day. It covers a distance of 192 km in one direction during its journey. Its train number is 2124 while travelling from Pune to Mumbai, whereas it is 2123 during the return journey.
[edit] History
Deccan Queen was started on June 1, 1930[1] as a weekend train for the Britishers during the British rule in India, to ferry race-fans from Mumbai (then called Bombay) to Pune (erstwhile Poona). She was converted to a daily service soon after. She is one of the longest running (if not the longest) trains on Indian Railways to have never run on steam power. From the beginning, the DQ has been run using electric locomotives. Occasionally, she was given diesels in case of original locomotive failure.
The color of her rake has seen a lot of changes, from red colour to yellow and then to blue[1].
Deccan Queen is the only train in India to get the ISO 9000 certification and to have a dining car [1]. It has sixteen coaches including the engine.
[edit] Incidents
The train derailed in 1990 at Khandala Ghat, but there were no casualties.
On November 30, 2006, a mob of around 6000 protestors set afire some compartments of the Deccan Queen Express near Ulhasnagar after forcing passengers to get out[2]. The arsonists were protesting against the vandalism of a statue of B. R. Ambedkar.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Deccan Queen turns 75 (2004-06-01). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
- ^ Dalits go on a rampage (2006-11-30). Retrieved on 2006-11-30.
