Mumbai, Jun 22 (PTI) Deccan Queen, the first deluxe train of the Indian Railways, on Wednesday chugged to Pune from Mumbai with a new Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) rake that is considered safer and comfortable as compared to the conventional ones, officials said.

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After the Deccan Queen, the railway administration plans to operate some more trains with LHB rakes, they said.

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Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of Central Railway (CR), said that the first run of Deccan Queen with LHB coaches from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) was much-awaited and it was fulfilled amidst clapping of happy and delighted passengers and rail fans.

Highlighting that the zonal railway presently operates a total 103 outstation trains, for which they require 154 rakes, Sutar said that Mumbai-Nashik Panchavati Express, Mumbai-Pune Deccan Express, Mumbai-Firozpur Punjab Mail, Mumbai-Jaynagar Pawan Express and Mumbai-Gondia Vidarbha Express are some of the prominent trains run with LHB coaches.

In an effort to increase safety of its passengers, the CR has planned to increase the number of trains run with LHB types of rakes to 68 from existing 57 trains, including Deccan Queen, he said.

According to Surat, the LHB rakes are safer and comfortable as the coaches are lighter in weight, have higher carrying capacity, speed potential, and better safety features.

"The LHB coaches do not climb on the adjacent coaches, due to the use of Center Buffer Couling (CBC), instead of the dual buffer system," Sutar said.

On June 1, the iconic Deccan Queen completed 92 glorious years and on the day, CR's general manager Anil Kumar Lahoti had announced that this prestigious train will run with new LHB rake from June 22.

The Deccan Queen had its maiden run on June 1, 1930, which was a major landmark in the history of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway (GIPR), the forerunner of the Central Railway.

This was the first deluxe train introduced to serve two important cities of the region - Mumbai and Pune, and was aptly named as "Queen of Deccan".

The train was initially introduced with seven coaches with only first class and second-class accommodation. However, the third class was introduced in 1955.

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