[shresan23]

Wonderful review. Makes me wanna travel.



I just have a few questions. Apart from the made in india theme, how good is it over shatabdi? For businessmen and others who travel with cause ( work, competitions, etc), the extra 20 minutes is good. For me as a casual passenger, how good is it over the shatabdi? Is the extra 100 or so bucks well absorbed or is it just a premium we pay for new stuff and the made in india tag.

Please dont call me anti-national or anything. I am for the whole make in india propaganda. I just want to know its value for money over the time tested shatabdis and rajdhanis


Thanks in advance

[the_bat]

Originally Posted by vigsom

How did I get to travel by the Vande Bharat Express?

Glad to hear about your travel experience.

Saw the lobby pics, and the door seems kinda confusing. Can you clear up the confusion if the doors can be opened when the train is in motion?

[fhdowntheline]

Originally Posted by shresan23

Wonderful review. Makes me wanna travel.



I just have a few questions. Apart from the made in india theme, how good is it over shatabdi? For businessmen and others who travel with cause ( work, competitions, etc), the extra 20 minutes is good. I just want to know its value for money over the time tested shatabdis and rajdhanis
Thanks in advance

Suggest you watch the YT video which I have mentioned in my earlier post above. You will get most of your answers.

[asethi]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The train looks lovely. Every bit as nice as the famous TGVs and Thalys and all. Very pride inspiring. I just worry about the sustained on-going upkeep, cleanliness and maintenance aspects, of the upholstery, fittings, electrical charging points and toilets etc, considering our general propensity of not caring at all for public property.

I believe maintenance should not be a problem. Delhi-Katra was amongst the first routes to get VB train in 2019 and maintenance has been very good since, and same should be applicable to all VB trains across the country.

[WasherNut0402]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Time will tell if the internals eg. seat fabric, door sensors, panels and the like withstand the test of time. However, it is a matter of pride that a train like this has been built in India. This has given me a huge sense of pride!

Well written article. Makes you want to book the tickets soon and experience the same first hand

[sukhbirST]

Thanks @ vigsom for keeping us up to date with Indian Railways. I had given up on train travel few years back but thanks to you and so many other reviews, have now planned all overnight trips by train only. Reminds me of early 70s days in Bangalore when there were no direct trains to Delhi. Some friends made on long distance train journeys have converted to life long friendships. By the way , have booked my Vande Bharat trip from Chandigarh to Delhi next week and your tips/ photographs will surely help.

[ritesh_44]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Just marginally (20 minutes) faster. Shatabdi did the journey in 4:40 hrs, Vande Bharat is doing in 4:20 hrs.

By pace, this train is not doing any sort of justice to the Vande Bharat moniker averaging a mere 76 kph. For reference the Delhi-Varanasi does 100 kph and Bombay-Amadavad does 88 kph.

Currently top speed is restricted by curves in the track. Railways is planning to upgrade the track and increase the average speed.

[Vtach]

Originally Posted by vigsom

[i][b]Experiencing the Vande Bharat Express (Contd.)

Indian railway has come a long way indeed from the 2000's. For me the most important things are

1. Sea change in approach to cleanliness. The station platforms are squeaky clean with guys on machines sweeping and mopping almost continuously.
No more paan strewn corners and lack of/overflowing dustbins even if one wanted not to litter.

2. No more steaming piles of excrement after early morning stops on the tracks. And humans being employed to manually pick & carry it away. People will use the restroom no matter what the placard says whether the train has stopped at a station or not but a solution had to thought of. It was such an revolting state of affairs but I guess it was considered okay for the "cattle class".

Kudos to the faceless, nameless Indian Railway personnel across the hierarchy & time frame for getting the train travellers also feel that the system is sensitive to things that enhance their quality of life. May your tribe increase!

[RGK]

Nice thread Vigsom.

My colleague's acquaintance is the loco pilot that drove this train on the first day. He claimed that better technology has resulted in extremely good acceleration. This was entirely developed and constructed by Indian engineers. Regarding the few accidents brought on by livestock, he claimed that while this occurs frequently on other high speed trains, the harm is greater since this particular train has a fibre body.

He had no idea that the honourable PM would enter the cabin and greet him.

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

Given the EMU like acceleration that this train has, a 2-minute stop is hardly going to impact it's schedule.

Time is not an issue; rather, other details like track clearance, power needs, patronage, and other interdependencies are at play. Few claimed that the railways would have to spend a significant sum of money ( in lakhs) in order to stop a train like the Tejas exp (which runs from Chennai to Madurai) at Tambaram for a few minute.

Originally Posted by Vtach

Sea change in approach to cleanliness. The station platforms are squeaky clean with guys on machines sweeping and mopping almost continuously. No more paan strewn corners and lack of/overflowing dustbins even if one wanted not to litter.

Absolutely. Never imagined we'd succeed in this. The station personnel now periodically check on the housekeeping staff in all stations, even the smaller ones. The people won't have the urge to make the station dirty if it is kept clean.

[jbpanda]

Thanks for sharing your review and the pictures. While the thread is for the Vande Bharat Express in the South, for the comparison I am sharing my recent experience from the North.

I had an occasion to travel from New Delhi to Chandigarh on 6 November 2022 for the first time through the Vande Bharat Express and was pleasantly surprised by the comfort (leg space better than business class), speed, quality of service, cleanliness and food served. To give a perspective, it takes 2 hrs 50 mins for a distance of 244 kms. By way of comparison, the Kalka Shatabdi Express takes 3 hrs 30 mins, a road trip on an average takes about 5 hrs and flight takes 40 mins but the overall time is about 5 hrs. The ticket fare difference between Shatabdi and Vande Bharat was only INR 225, with the later being higher. The catering charges of Shatabdi was higher by INR 210, which was possibly because I was taking the evening Shatabdi which served dinner as against breakfast in Vande Bharat.

As I type this message today, I have boarded the Vande Bharat Express yet again just for the convenience of completing work during the day and getting to return the same evening. Sharing few pictures for reference.

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Ferruccio

I foresee before this decade is over there will be hourly departures of VB+ trains travelling at 180 km/h connecting key cities from all state capitals. This is just the beginning.

Not possible..for that one needs to strengthen the tracks, reduce curves, close all level crossings and fully fence the tracks. This is almost impossible in indisciplined India, even if the government finds the budget to do so.
To reduce air travel one needs the train to do a Bangalore Chennai in two hours versus the current four. Forget Bangalore Chennai, the railways can't run a Mumbai Pune service in two hours currently, due to various restrictions on the tracks and the ghats. Making changes to the current tracks is akin to building the Nagpur expressway on the current two lane state road. Unless the government finds the spine and the money to build new high speed tracks one can see Vande Bharat trains chugging along at 100kph.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by apachelongbow

To reduce air travel one needs the train to do a Bangalore Chennai in two hours versus the current four.

Not taking away from the main point that much remains to be done to reduce the time trains take between major cities, and much can be done. But for this particular example, I'd much rather take the train than fly. You need to be at Bangalore airport at least an hour before the flight. It can take 2-3 hours to get to Bangalore airport from most places in the city, given our amazing traffic. Then there's Bangalore airport security which has got to be one of the slowest in the country! And of course the time it takes to get from Chennai airport to your final destination too.

Compared to that, even if it does take 4 hours by train for Bangalore-Chennai, I'd rather use the Bangalore Metro to reach the station, and take the train without any security check drama. (A Metro line to the Bangalore Airport is supposed to be ready by 2027, but given the past record, it's at least a decade away.) Actually, for any domestic travel, I'd much rather take an overnight train if one is available, than a flight.

But yes, the fact remains that a lot more can be done to reduce the time taken by our trains. But travelling by IR has certainly improved a lot from the days of the train journeys and stations that I remember as a child. Hope they keep improving!

[srini1785]

Being a regular user of T No 12028 (SBC-MAS Shatabdi), I can say that this Shatabdi is mighty convenient. So you loose sleep for a night and hop on to the train at 6.00AM at SBC and they serve you Pongal + 2 Vadas (No idea why) and sugary tea at 8.00AM then you hop off at Chennai at 11.00AM go straight to office and in the evening check into a hotel for the night. In relation to Cauvery or Mail you save on a days rent at a Hotel since Hotels charge you 12AM-12AM. The 3PM departure is a let down since you reach Chennai by 9.00PM.

I haven't yet used VB express but i am planning to do it next month. Its especially interesting since our company and myself are directly involved in supplying certain items for this train's mechanicals.

[DigitalOne]

Originally Posted by RGK

Time is not an issue; rather, other details like track clearance, power needs, patronage, and other interdependencies are at play. Few claimed that the railways would have to spend a significant sum of money ( in lakhs) in order to stop a train like the Tejas exp (which runs from Chennai to Madurai) at Tambaram for a few minute.

From what I read, the requested stop for the Chennai Madurai Tejas at Tambaram is already being considered, and the delay only seems to be because of bureaucracy involved. I agree that the bureaucracy (i.e railway board in Delhi takes the decision) is indeed necessary in these cases, as otherwise the zonal railway will be subjected to too much pressure to introduce stops.

Perhaps KR Puram being a grade B station is not allocated a stop for VB or Shatabdi, as per current railway rules. But the market reality is different. Bangalore has grown tremendously Eastwards compared to West side of the city.
And once the purple line opens in a few months time, KR Puram will be quite convenient from all areas of Bangalore.

[amit1agrawal]

Excellent thread. Motivates me to take this train just for the experience.
The tickets are priced at Rs 980/- only which is a deal IMO and the time taken is just 4.5 hours. A flight from Bangalore to Chennai would take more hours end-end & would cost 3-4K per person. There are many cities in India where the distance between them is <500kms where Vande Bharat would be the best option for travel.