Vande Bharat Express was also running on this route but I chose this coach in Pragati Express as I wanted to try something more unique.

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Introduction

Some rides happen by chance and this is an account of my chance ride from Mumbai to Pune the Vistadome way!

Background

I had to make two official back-to-back trips - one to GJ and another to MH and decided that instead of doing flights back and forth to my current base in the south, I'd rather spend the weekend in Surat and continue my next leg to Pune from there. The plan was cast - travel August Kranti Tejas Rajdhani Exp to Mumbai, transit from Mumbai Central to Mumbai CST, and take another train from there to Pune. When I was examining evening options from CST to Pune, Vande Bharat Exp was there, but when I was looking to try something more unique, pop came the options of Vistadome on Pragati Express and the Deccan Queen. I chose Pragati Exp for multiple reasons:

• Earlier departure than the Deccan Queen
• Opportunity to try the Vistadome coach
• Opportunity to explore a new route (Panvel to Karjat)

Ride#1 - Surat to Mumbai Central by August Kranti Tejas Rajdhani Express

I've travelled by this train umpteen times from when it was introduced as Air-Conditioned Express (in the early 90s) but got to experience First AC on the Tejas coaches for the first time.

What has changed

• Nice looking comforter in a neat-looking bag
• Neat carpet
• Excellent washrooms
• Complete coach cleaned before arrival at the destination
• Carpet covered with a vinyl cover to prevent it from getting soiled

What hasn't changed

• The good old foldable table used by caterers to serve beverages and meals
• The design of the berths is no different from First AC on other trains
• Coach was freezing cold - a common problem with all Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches

View of the First AC cabin - nothing different

Comforter put away in a zipper bag - quite neat

Clean carpet

Black Coffee on board

Cornflakes (milk on the way)

Followed by Upma neatly served

Crossing Vaitarna station before entering Virar

Ride#2 - Mumbai CST to Pune by Pragati Express

I'd reached the platform quite early, and so had to cool off for over an hour before the coach was opened. Before other folks could come in, I took a quick tour of the coach. The coach EV1 is at the fag end of the train on the CST - Pune sector. It makes little sense to take this coach on the Pune - CST sector as the loco would block views from the viewing gallery.

What I liked about the Vistadome coach

• Beautifully upholstered seats
• Transparent panels on the roof
• Luggage rack just outside the coach on one end - no overhead bins as in other coaches
• Wide viewing gallery at the rear end makes one feel as if one's riding in an AC caboose

What I disliked

• Washrooms (available only at one end of the coach) poorly kept
• Roof glass panels were all dirty - unobstructed view of the sky overhead was lacking
• Some passengers placed their feet on the panel in front; poor decorum

Small yet significant observations

• One can't take pictures from the Viewing Gallery in low outside light - the reflection overpowers the camera
• Best views from the Vistadome coach Viewing Gallery are enjoyed when the coach is at the rear of the train and when the outside light is good

Let the pictures speak

Vistadome coach as viewed from outside

Viewing Gallery with the loco in front - this is how the view would have been on the Pune to CST sector

Viewing Gallery - unobstructed view when the coach is at the end of the train

View of the cabin from the Viewing Gallery

View of the cabin - just Wow!

View of the roof - note that the transparent panels are letting some light in but aren't clean

Luggage rack

Some passengers who love to stretch and dirty the panel in front

Views from the Viewing Gallery enroute Panvel to Karjat

Panvel - Karjat line merging with the main Ambernath - Karjat line

Banker locos coming in to get attached - views from the Viewing Gallery will be lost, but enough shots already taken

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430 advanced CCTV cameras will be installed at 106 locations along the e-way by mid-October.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is monitored closely around the clock for traffic violations. Now, with upgraded systems in place, it's going to get really difficult to speed on the access-controlled e-way.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is installing 430 advanced CCTV cameras at 106 locations along the route by mid-October.

Sanjay Yadav, the joint MD of MSRDC, revealed that all cameras will be interconnected through an optical fibre network to a central control room. An Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) will document various traffic violations, such as excessive speeding, reckless driving, wrong-way driving, motorway stops, lane changes, and driving in the wrong lane, among others.

The system will also feature a spot and average speed detection system at 39 locations and a lane discipline violation detection system at 34 locations. 130 spots on the e-way will be equipped with wrong-way entry detection, while variable messaging signs and weather monitoring systems will be installed at 23 locations and 11 locations, respectively.

The system will also keep an eye on commercial vehicles. There will be weigh-in-motion systems at all entry points. An automatic vehicle counter and classifier will be installed at toll booths, along with automatic number plate recognition and violation detection cameras for penalty collection.

Mobile surveillance vans and emergency vehicles like towing vans, ambulances and cranes will be equipped with displays, cameras and a vehicle tracking system.

A command and control centre located at Lonavala will receive the feed from all the cameras. Officials will also be able to access the feed online. Violation challans will be generated immediately and validated by officials with photo and video evidence.

Source: Mid-day

At the entrance of the Samruddhi expressway there is a huge round-about and the road is illuminated for quite a distance, which makes it prominent in the dark night.

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Drive to Pune - M&M plant visit:

One fine afternoon (28th April) received the above invitation from M&M. Dialed the toll free number, as soon as I could, and booked a slot. In the evening narrated the whole thing to my spouse; I knew that she would be very excited, as visiting Pune means a chance to meet and stay with our son.

During May I was busy with Annual Accounts Closing and statutory audit and there was no further communication from M&M. Sometime in the third week of May rang up the toll free number again and asked for confirmation. They verbally confirmed our booking on 27th May (fourth Saturday) and informed us to proceed with hotel booking and other planning for the journey. Our stay was booked at Courtyard Marriot, Chakan, which was very near to the M&M factory. The route would be Bhilai-Nagpur ORR-Samruddhi Mahamarg up to Shirdi-Pune (Chakan). Had read many stuff about accidents and lack of facilities on the Samruddhi Mahamarg – so was in a bit of dilemma. Sufficient dry fruits, sweets and other snacks were carried in anticipation.

The Journey:

Started just before midnight of 24th May from our home and Bhilai to Nagpur drive was smooth. However, I had to search quite-a-bit to feel up the tank before entering the express way. Finally found a BPCL pump that was open just before entering the Hyderabad by-pass and filled up the tank. Crossed the toll both on Nagpur ORR at 03:56 AM and may have entered the Samruddhi Mahamarg 15/ 20 minutes after that.

At the entrance of the expressway there is a huge round-about (I noticed this only while returning back) and the road is illuminated for quite a distance, which makes it prominent in the dark night. Had heard many stories of police checking the vehicles, specially the tyre conditions at the entry to the E-way. Frankly I did not witness any such checking either at Nagpur or at Shirdi entrance during the return journey. There was very scarce traffic from Nagpur side and the triple lane E-way was empty. The lanes are very clearly marked and the left lane is for HV, the middle for LMV and the right lane is overtaking lane. There is several signboards with the above instruction as well as showing the max speed limit for each class of vehicles. Set the ACC at 105 KMPH and had a cool journey for about six hours on the Sanruddhi Expressway. Though this is an access controlled E-way, but I did notice a couple of bikes – don’t know how they managed to enter. The e-way was blocked with barricades at Shirdi indicating the end of the road – which was opened up on the very next day till Mumbai. Overall it was an extremely soothing experience. The toll from Nagpur to Shirdi was Rs. 900.00 and the exit time at Shirdi toll gate was 09:55 AM.

We realized that we should have carried tea/ coffee in a flask as you would not get any decent tea / coffee on the route. We decided to have our breakfast at the Marigold Regency, where we had stayed earlier. After a refreshing breakfast with a cup of tea & coffee and an hours break, we started for Pune. There were several crossroads in this part and I had trouble staying on route as the Vi sim of the XUV700 lost connection and the maps started behaving erratically. Finally, wife’s Android mobile came to the rescue and we reached Courtyard Marriott, Chakan, Pune at around 02:00 PM. The check-in at the hotel happens at 03:00 PM and we had to wait one long hour at the lounge, however, as a compliment they up-graded our booking to a suite.

Some pictures of the morning sun on route:

26-06-2023: For the next two days I did not get to drive the car as the keys had been taken over by my son. At the end he was thrilled to have driven such a big car in the busy roads of Pune without any words of caution from me. We spent our time in the Pheonix Mall and also went to Tiger Point, Lonavala to enjoy the sunset. On our return from Lonavala, in the evening we also had an experience of the horrific traffic on the Mumbai-Pune H-way.

Mahindra plant visit (27-06-2023):

Just after entering the gates of the plant, we were instructed to park our car in an area, which was earmarked for visitors. Just opposite to the parking area was the reception where we had to enter our details (KYC documents were already submitted to M&M earlier). They had arranged a bus to carry the visitors, but since we were early, we were taken in a XUV500 to the Body Parts Shop, where they had arranged for breakfast. There were total 42 confirmed bookings out of which 36/37 turned up. Slowly everyone arrived by 09:30 AM and there was a brief introduction with presentation and instructions. Some guest was provided with safety shoes and aprons by the team and we finally started the visit at 10:15 AM.

The following shops were offered by the team, and the group can choose any three

• Press Shop
• Body Shop.
• Paint Shop and
• Assembly Bay.

Test drive on their internal test tract with demonstration of all the ADAS feature (mainly for those who have not received their car yet) was also part of the programme. The group decided to skip the Press Shop and visit the rest.

The Body Shop: The monocoque structure consists of three parts – the rear (from second row seat to the boot), the mid (front of the second row to the dash) and the front (i.e. the engine bay). All the three parts are fed to the production line from three different conveyors from the sides and welded together by robotic arms to form one single piece.

In the second part the sides are fitted in place and welded and in the third part the roof is fitted in place. Each and every body is machine checked after this stage.

The paint shop : The Electro coating area was not shown to us. The group was taken straight to the area where the sealants were being applied to the cars. At an intermediatary stage the sealant application was being manually inspected and corrected by manual intervention. One floor above this is the ultimate production line where the base coat and the clear coat is applied and the whole line is vacuum sealed. The final product is manually checked by a group of technicians for certification/ rejection.

The certified painted bodies are stored in a huge multilayered frame sort-of structure within the same building.

The Assembly Shop/ XUV 700 Shop:  This area was huge in size and spread and the group was allowed to walk in only one straight path where we could observe men working on both sides. Here the production line keeps on moving at a set speed and each group moves with the vehicle (up a small distance) and perform their job at the same time. Each group/ work station consists of four to eight technicians and each team is entrusted with performing one particular job like one team fits the engine & front suspension, the next fits the dashboard etc. Each work station is fed with the required/ designated assembly from the side. Each and every team works in such unison and cohesion and also completes the job within the schedule time – it was really beautiful to watch the groups perform.

At the end of this production line we saw how a naked automobile body transforms into a beautiful piece of engineering marvel. One batch of KUV100 cars were also being assembled in the assembly shop. They were LHD and for export purpose. This is one shop where the group photo was taken and we also took liberty to snap a couple of shots.

The Test Track: After coming out of the assembly shop, each-and-every vehicle is tested in the test track to check the suspension set-up, the alignment and the ADAS features and finally certified as “ready for dispatch”. M&M has a small 2.5 KM test track within the plant for this purpose. Our group was taken to the test track prior to the Assembly shop visit and the purpose was to explain and demonstrate the ADAS features in real driving conditions. The prospective buyers were very excited to experience live demonstration of these advance safety features – mainly the Lane keep assist, AEBS and the ACC.

The plant visit was followed by lunch at the Courtyard Mariott, Chakan and each were gifted with a M&M coffee mug and leather key chain before they parted.

Return on 28-06-2023:  We returned to Bhilai the next day via the same route. In spite of all our efforts we could start only at 10:00 AM and reached home half hour past midnight. Our return journey till Nagpur was uneventful but after that we lost two hours due to road blockage at three different spots by the local admistration (for reasons unknown to me) plus we had to stop for dinner on the way.

During our return we saw an accident (may have occurred some 10/15 minutes before our arrival). The car was a grey coloured hatchback, which had turned 180 degrees and the front left hub seemed broken. Six / seven cars were already there and people were helping the victims out of the car. One aged lady, with multiple cuts & bruises on her body, had just been taken out of the back seat and she was seating on the road. Another lady was still there on the rear seat.

At the end of the day, Orion brought us safely home after a memorable driving experience.

The Shirdi and Nagpur toll:

Road ahead:

Onward & return journey stats:

Lonavala:

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According to a media report, the Pune RTO is forcing applicants who are trained on automatic transmission cars to take their driving tests on a car equipped with a manual transmission. As a result, the number of applicants failing the tests has increased.

In the past few months, there has been an increase in the number of applicants failing the driving tests conducted at Institute Of Driving Training And Research (IDTR), Bhosari.

According to the Maharashtra state transport commissioner, the testing tracks in the state do not have a provision in the 4-wheeler permanent license test, where applicants can be given the option of a dual-control, automatic test car.

Source: Hindustan Times

Ford has partnered with Hinjawadi Industries Association (HIA) to launch Office Ride, a shared mobility app in Pune. 

Office Ride will provide shared mobility solutions for employees of the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park and aims to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. Shared vehicles will have free Wi-Fi connectivity. The app will enable users to plan their commutes and track the location of the vehicle. Payments for the service can be made through mobile phones using net banking, digital wallets or debit/credit cards.

Office Ride was launched on a pilot basis in March 2018. Initially, it was only available for Ford employees but was later expanded to other companies. The company claims to have completed 2,00,000 rides.

Ford and the Pune Smart City Development Corporation will also be exploring other mobility solutions like an integrated transport system and a Mobility Innovation Hub.

Earlier this month, the police commissioner of Pune made an announcement mandating helmets for 2-wheeler riders from January 1, 2019. Now, some prominent social activists, businessmen and politicians have decided to protest against this new rule. Some of the arguments put forth by these individuals are simply irresponsible and laughable. 

Even the city's law makers are against the rule. A political leader has said that making helmets compulsory would create a huge inconvenience to riders and that there is no need for helmets when the speed of vehicles in the city does not exceed 25 km/h.

An RTI activist from the city has said that every new police commissioner has tried to implement the rule and every time the citizens of Pune have protested against it. He said that there are over 24 lakh 2-wheelers in the city and therefore authorities haven't been able to provide such a large quantity of helmets in a short period of time. The activist also said that the authorities should instead concentrate on resolving traffic issues in the city.

Another citizen has argued that using helmets would cause medical issues like Spondylitis. According to him, a helmet reduces the ability to hear. A businessman from the city believes that the police are holding citizens hostage by launching the helmet drive. He said that the police and their pillion riders should first start using helmets before forcing citizens to use them. 

Source: Pune Mirror

Tata Motors is planning to invest Rs. 6,885 crore into its passenger vehicle (PV) business in India over the next 3 years. It is said to be the biggest investment the company has made in its PV business. 

The company plans to set up new manufacturing lines at its Pune and Sanand plants. Both facilities are being upgraded for the production of future products based on the new Omega and Alfa modular platforms. A new assembly line is being installed at J Block in the Pune plant for the upcoming SUVs.

According to media reports, Tata Motors plans to launch 10-12 new models based on the two new modular platforms over the next 3-5 years. The carmaker is aiming to break into the top 3 PV makers by end of FY-2019 and cover over 95% of the Indian PV market in the years to come.

Tata Motors also plans to overhaul its sales and marketing infrastructure.

Source: Economic Times

Virgin Hyperloop One has signed a framework agreement with the state government of Maharashtra to build a Hyperloop between Mumbai and Pune. The announcement was made by Sir Richard Branson during the Magnetic Maharashtra event. Having completed an initial feasibility study, the company plans to submit a detailed framework on engineering in the next 6 months.

Initially an operational demonstration tack will be built and the route will likely be constructed alongside the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. According to the initial study, the travel time along the 140 km route is expected to be around 14-25 minutes. The first test runs are expected to be conducted in the next 3 years while commercial operations would start in the next 6-7 years. 

The Virgin Hyperloop is capable of reaching speeds up to 1,000 km/h, however the latest study has been based on an average speed of 350 km/h, while the infrastructure will be able to handle speeds up to 600-1,000 km/h. Virgin claims that it will be able to move 10,000 passengers per hour (in both directions) along this route. Once fully operational, it will be able to transport 150 million people per year. It is expected that a trip on the Hyperloop would be priced similar to the cab or airplane fares. 

It was also revealed that the manufacturing facility for the Hyperloop tubes is likely to come up around Pune. The company plans to make India an export hub for autonomous, electric powered Hyperloop tubes. According to Branson, the project will be privately funded and the company is also in discussion with various other Indian partners. 

In September 2017, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) and the Andhra Pradesh government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to connect Amaravati and Vijaywada with a Hyperloop.

Source: The Economic Times

Three test mules of the Tata Hexa crossover have recently been spotted testing in Pune. The test mules were heavily camouflaged, and thus showed no major design elements of the upcoming crossover. Tata will likely launch the Hexa crossover later this year.

The Tata Hexa was officially revealed at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, and was later showcased at the 2016 Auto Expo (Tata Hexa @ Auto Expo 2016). Tata officials claimed that the model showcased at the Auto Expo closely resembled the production-spec Hexa.

Based on the Aria, the Tata Hexa has been given a more SUV-ish look. The front gets a hexagonal grill pattern, smoked projector headlamps, and DRLs above the fog lamp housing. The car showcased at the Auto Expo had full body cladding and 19-inch rims, though it remains to be seen whether or not Tata brings it to the production model. The tail-end gets LED taillights and chrome-tipped dual exhausts.

The Hexa will be powered by a 2.2-litre Varicor 400 diesel engine that makes 154 BHP and 400 Nm of peak torque. A 6-Speed manual transmission will come as standard, while a 6-speed Automatic will be available as an option. The Hexa will also get multiple driving modes.

Once launched, it will compete against the Toyota Innova Crysta, Renault Duster, Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500, and Nissan Terrano.

Source: GaadiWaadi

Volkswagen invests Rs. 720 crores (~85 million euros) in India, towards the development of its compact sedan. This is a part of the Rs. 1,500 crore investment plan, which VW had announced in 2014 (link to news article).

The investment will also cover installing new equipment and ramping up production in order to accommodate this new compact sedan. As reported earlier, this car is specifically developed for the Indian market and might be called Bora or Derby. It is likely to be powered by the same 1.2L, 3-cylinder petrol and the 1.5L diesel engine from the Polo to enjoy excise benefits. No news about the 1.2 TSI + DSG combo yet!

The world-premiere of this car is scheduled at the 2016 Auto Expo. Its production begins in the first half of 2016. VW have been slow to identify the potential of the compact sedan segment. When launched, this car will compete with the Maruti Dzire, Honda Amaze, Hyundai Xcent, Tata Zest and Ford Figo.

*Image for representation purpose only