AC double decker trains in India: My POV as a railway enthusiast

From whatever information I've gathered, some trains under Central and Western Railways started sporting double decker non-AC coaches as early as the 1980s.

BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Introduction

This is a quick review of India's airconditioned double decker trains with the most polarised user experiences - most of them negative. Although I've criticized this travel option on many occasions, I continue to ride on them. Why? Read on!

History of double decker (DD) trains in India

Like more car per car was the tagline of the Tata Indica, much prior to that, more passengers per railcar must have been the tagline inspiring the Railways to introduce double decker coaches. From whatever information I've gathered, some trains under Central and Western Railways started sporting double decker non-AC coaches as early as the 1980s. The list below isn't exhaustive and am sure these coaches were tried on trains in many zones until they were pulled back

• Singhad Express between Pune and Mumbai
• Sahyadri Express between Mumbai and Kolhapur
• Panchvati Express between Mumbai and Manmad
• Flying Ranee Express between Mumbai and Surat
• Valsad Fast Passenger between Mumbai and Valsad

Come 2012 and airconditioned double decker trains were introduced in phases; longest of them in 2016 as the Tirupati - Visakhapatnam DD Exp. which, hold your breath, is an overnight train covering approx. 760km. Others in service are on the following sectors:

• Mumbai Ahmedabad
• Chennai - Bengaluru
• Delhi - Jaipur
• Anand Vihar - Lucknow
• Coimbatore - Bengaluru
• Visakhapatnam - Guntur

From this video (04:40 to 05:40 to get an idea of the uncushioned seats). Also note that seats have been created wherever some space was availableto this (with the coir seats finished in bluish grey vinyl leather); note for safety, the non-grille emergency windows on the lower deck, the half open windows on the upper deck, and the wide doors

to this (airconditioned yet uncomfortable)

My rides in Double Decker trains

I've done Flying Ranee umpteen times between Surat and Mumbai and back (sometimes Dahanu - Surat) and the typical experience was - get an unreserved ticket, board one of the unreserved coaches, get a seat, only to be forcibly asked to get up by the daily Up-Down travellers, who have their "fixed" seats everyday. Arguments wouldn't work as it was one passenger vs a gang. Reserved coaches - the only solace is one'd get to sit in one's allocated seat, but be requested by other standing passengers to "cut marke baitho" (split and help two sit one behind the other like on a scooter). Two ways of looking at it - grumble OR enjoy the ride! Have also travelled in a double decker unreserved coach by Gujarat Express to Mumbai once. This was in an emergency.

Other than those rides, I've done Chennai - Bengaluru several times until 2016 and I ride the Mumbai - Ahmedabad Double Decker Exp. even now when I visit Gujarat.

Double Decker AC Expresses - Good vs Bad

Likes

1. Reasonably fast way to get from Point A to Point B
2. More seats per train - 120 seats per coach against the 78 in a conventional LHB AC Chair car
3. Highest probability of getting confirmed reservation even with a General Waitlist of approx. 100 two days before the journey date - again, this isn't a thumb rule but a good gamble to take
4. Interiors pleasing to the eye
5. Upper deck feels like business class in a 747, until one gets into the seat
6. Convenient travel option to mid and large stations on the route - stops at 1-2 more places than a regular superfast train but takes the same time

Dislikes

1. Extremely uncomfortable seats - as pointed out here; seats seem to have gotten better but not by a mile
2. Subset of point#1 - the under thigh support is pathetic - the seat bottom cushion slopes downward as the seats age
3. With all the shortcomings viz. smaller less comfortable seats, lower recline, compromised luggage holding capacity, the fare is the same as the regular AC Chair car fare
4. Mad scramble to exit the train at major stations thus making it quite a concerning experience

BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

My experience in AC Double Decker trains

Exterior - looks quite nice, but the shade could have been different

Elevation of the lower deck - note that the bottom of the window is almost at the level of the platform

Elevation of the upper deck - the better of the two

Interior - lower deck; luggage racks are not tall enough thus limiting the size of bags that can go in

View of the outside from the lower deck

View of the lower deck cabin

Seat upright

with just an approx. 15 degree recline

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