Not many tourists are availing the facilities of the vistadome coach train from Araku to Vizag due to the really high prices and unfavorable timings. The tourists are not willing to pay Rs 665 per person for just one journey and are also disappointed with having no concessions for children, said the Railway officials. The trains have been scheduled for daily departure at 4:10 pm and arriving at the city by 8:30 pm. The passengers are expressing their grief that the return journey gets delayed because of the train leaving from Araku after sunset, leaving no room for them to enjoy the view before reaching Vizag.
One of the passengers who opted for the Vistadome coach to travel to Araku said that he has booked the tickets for both the journeys as he wanted to enjoy the morning and the afternoon views of the valleys. However, he says that the morning view has been at its best; leaving the return journey to be flop as it was dark outside with hardly anything visible. They said that the railway management should change the timings of the train, as there is no point in shedding so much money to ride in such a special coach.
The convener of the Visakha Railway Zone Sadhana Samiti, JVV Satyanarayana Murthy reportedly said that, “The railway authorities should introduce a dedicated train with such glass-domed coaches between Vizag and Araku. The train should depart from Vizag in the morning hours and leave Araku at least by 2 pm. Only then the tourists will be able to enjoy the ride and agree to pay the high price.”
However, it has been known through a railway official that the train has only seen 50 percent of the tourists in the return journey. The official also said that the train has been introduced during the tenure of the former divisional railway manager, Chandralekha Mukherjee and said that they will have to wait and see what new changes will be made by the new DRM to make the services better.
