The Deccan Queen, India’s first electric express train, has been in a rare gesture, running with diesel locomotives since April 18. Not that it has affected journey timelines, but commuters, old timers and railfans have seen this as a fall of prestige for the iconic train and that too in the year Indian Railways is celebrating the centenary of its electrification.

A major shortage of electric locos has hit the Mumbai-Pune rail section as almost all of the trains, like the Pragati Express, Sinhagad Express, Intercity Express, Deccan Express have now been converted to be used by diesel engines. Sources said the trains used to be hauled by a special class of engines classified as WCAM3, which has been Central Railway’s unique class capable of hauling trains in both Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC) power modes.