[Gannu_1]

I just hope the dreaded jerk of the LHB coaches aren’t present on the Vande Bharat sleepers. It will be an awful experience!

To IR’s credit, the LHB coaches may be an improvement in terms of safety but the jerk is surely annoying.

[Swapnil4585]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

I just hope the dreaded jerk of the LHB coaches aren’t present on the Vande Bharat sleepers. It will be an awful experience!

To IR’s credit, the LHB coaches may be an improvement in terms of safety but the jerk is surely annoying.

Last I travelled was in June end on the CR push-pull Rajdhani. Berth allotted to me (due to last minute Tatkal booking) was an upper one. Five minutes into the journey and I gave up the berth and proceeded to the coach attendant's seat. So much was the discomfort with both, the jerks and the vertical movement. Of the 5, I spent 2 hours on the coach attendant's berth and thereafter as the train got empty, the TC gave me a side lower berth.

This was on the Rajdhani. However in my return journey, which was also on a LHB trainset, there were none. So I think it is the maintenance aspect and not suscept part quality.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by FiatDiesel

It’s just like we are saying Ambassadors does the job at low cost why we need Fronx, Cretas of the world.

Best part is it’s made in India and to be frank I had never thought if we will ever have this significant transformation of Indian Railway, guess we are in middle of it.

Thank you for listing out the good differences, they all make Vande Bharat trains better in terms of comfort for passengers. However, I am still not convinced about the railways transformation part though. Majority of India doesn't travel in the VB's or the Shatabdi's unfortunately and thus far, for them, I see no transformation at all.

There are no new tracks, the existing tracks have gone past their use by dates, accidents happening almost daily and the existing trains are not enough to cater to the population. The only good thing I see these days is the cleanliness part, which has actually improved tremendously. Express trains are being made part of dynamic pricing including the sleeper coaches which is the mainstay for people who can't afford luxury but made to pay double or sometimes triple of actual fare. Advance booking window of four months but tickets going on dynamic pricing by the end of one month or sometimes even less. These are only some of the transformative decisions made by the railways and which I only find, are ways of making money and nothing else. Railways are the people mover of the country, I expect better from them.

Originally Posted by DigitalOne

1. It is factually incorrect to say Shatabdi always has a lower fare than VB. Shatabdi express, for a long time now, has a dynamic price structure whereas VB prices are fixed.

Since the original premises of VBs having higher prices is wrong, the below points are moot but even so, here it goes.

2. No existing Shatabdi express has been cancelled when a VB was introduced on the same route. So, it is the customers' choice how they want to travel, by VB or Shatabdi.

The base fare of a VB train is almost 30% or more higher than the Shatabdi for any given sector. Yes,Shatabdi has dynamic pricing (and that is another sly way of earning money from Express trains but that's not the point here) but base fare is still lower. Also, your argument of choice doesn't hold ground since the timings are never identical on the same route. These both being superfast trains, people will always prefer which suits their own purpose. So when the demand is not there, a VB train still charges 30% or more from the passengers. On peak demand cycle, the prices of a Shatabdi might touch the price figure of a VB train though. And going by the previous instances, I am sure, dynamic prices will apply to VB trains as well in future. When railways are on a spree where it is applying dynamic pricing to normal passenger trains where superfast charges are applied, I wonder for how long they will resist the VB !!

I am though all for charging people who can pay. As for the discount part that you wrote, I don't see anyone applying for discounts either. Also, that discount of 25% on base fare will result in getting close to the Shatabdi fare only, if applied

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Apart from the better NVH and comfort for the passengers, VB trains also consume lesser power compared to a normal LHB coaches hauled by a WAP5/7 due to better engineering, lower weight and aerodynamics. There is a podcast/interview on YT with the person behind the VB trains who mentioned that VB trains are 10-15% more energy efficient on a given route compared to Shatabdi. This is a significant number for the IR as it reduces the fixed costs per journey.

Yes, I also read about the energy efficient part which is mainly due to regenerative braking that VB trains are equipped with and that is actually good. As for the NVH and jerks, I have till date never travelled on VB trains, so wouldn't know since my benchmark is restricted to LHB rakes only which are great if one discounts the horrible jerks !

Originally Posted by am1m

But I'm hoping the long term aim and the target customer is those people who would otherwise take a flight.


Another thing I'm hoping is that these more expensive trains will translate to better revenues from those who can afford to pay flight fares, which can trickle down to better coaches and facilities for all passengers. There is very little chance the railways/any government can increase fares regularly for regular trains. I'm ok paying for the better VB trains, if eventually that means better 3AC coaches and retiring the bad SL and General coaches someday.

People who take flights will always take the flights when the price difference is marginal. For example, a Rajdhani 2AC fare is almost close to the flight fare from Calcutta when dynamic pricing is applicable and the 1AC price sometimes exceeds the flight price even. It's the time one saves and not really the money.

[rrsteer]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

I am just asking since I really don’t get the hoopla around the VB trains. After the initial euphoria of optics, most of the VB trains are running below capacity.

Let me share my thoughts. Once a week take the morning Shatabdi to Delhi and return the same day by taking the VB in the afternoon. Due to dynamic pricing VB can be more expensive by at max Rs 150, but most often i pay the same. In the afternoon i have a choice between booking a VB or Shatabdi and since the VB started, i have never booked the Shatabdi, even though I am always rushed catching the VB (it starts earlier). The main advantages to me are:

1. Cuts 45 mins of travel time
2. Less jerky ride, smoother acceleration and deceleration- so I can work on the laptop.
3. More ergonomic seating environment - e.g., the seats have side supports for resting the head, individual charging points, water bottle is tucked away from sight, not an ergonomic hindrance but still accessible, sense of light and airiness in the cabin and better implementation of window shades.
4. The compartment gallery is very large and it greatly improves the embarking and disembark experience.
5. More hygienic- the area where the food is stored looks much better planned and executed and toilets I believe are lot more modern and cleaner (even so i haven’t tried it, still have a hitch)

PS: typing this from a VB and as always fully booked.

[SR-71]

Originally Posted by Chisels121

but Shatabdi is the peak of our current fleet of trains which are diesel whereas VB is electric

Can you please clarify what you mean by Shatabdi's being diesel. As far as I know there are approximately 22 pairs of Shtabdhi's today (maybe more) majority of which runs on electrified routes. The big difference between the traditional LHB rakes (used by most Shatabdis) and VB rakes is being hauled by locomotives (diesel or electric) versus being an EMU unit. As Shatabdhi's are locomotive hauled they have the advantage of going anywhere in the Indian rail network versus VB's being restricted to electrified routes.

[harikrishnansp]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

A better approach would be to lay down a new network of this high-speed tracks, with proper safety barriers, that will only be used by the high-speed trains. This will ensure that such trains are not slowed down due to other passenger trains and goods trains. That will also allow railways to charge a premium for these services and will be used only by the people who are willing to pay / afford such a premium.

True. This is the need of the hour according to me. A dedicated high speed corridor with modern signalling systems will be so much better than burdening the existing network, which was conceived more than a century ago.

[SR-71]

On a tangential note, while it's nice of IR introduce modern coaches, it's sad to see the rowdy behavior among the loco pilots (or atleast that is who it is per the news article) fighting like thugs take control of and operate the newly introduced Agra Udaipur VB. I honestly did not expect this from IR.

The video embedded in the news article is disturbing to say the least.
https://www.news18.com/india/mai-cha...o-9042630.html

Here is another one from YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-A3MPV6-oo

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by SR-71

On a tangential note, while it's nice of IR introduce modern coaches, it's sad to see the rowdy behavior among the loco pilots (or atleast that is who it is per the news article) fighting like thugs take control of and operate the newly introduced Agra Udaipur VB. I honestly did not expect this from IR.

I’d always assumed that locos routes were assigned to pilots by the IR admin - like how an airline would. Didn’t know it was a first come first serve kind of thing!