I will definitely opt for the Vande Bharat in future travels and maybe try Executive Class class one day.

BHPian autonahnjpr recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I recently travelled on Jaipur Delhi Vande Bharat Train and had a nice experience. This was my second vande bharat journey the first being the inaugural Delhi Varanasi way back in 2019.

The train has been reviewed multiple times on the forum and many of its details are covered already. So, I will stick to my observations and experiences as much as possible.

The rack seemed same as that of other VB trains and I had same vibe and experience as on the Delhi Varanasi VB. The CC (cattle class ) offers 3X2 seating arrangement with one half of the seats facing the other half with a nice table in the middle. Coaches are spotlessly clean, Seats are very comfortable and the legroom is 2X of Indigo (). The EC class, I guess would be much more comfortable.

On Boarding - You are given a newspaper with choices of Hindi, English and Business and a water bottle. Once you settle, you get first round of tea and biscuit (digesting millet ones). The tray is quite large and easy to push up and pull down. Announcement is made about the next destination and other general stuff. The digital display at the end of the coach displays the next destination, speed of the train and steps to connect to intrain wi-fi. So you sip your water, tea and browse through the newspapers till the next round of refreshments arrive. I was pleasantly surprise to find small pouch of hand sanitizer - will the airlines also learn and provide the same during flight.

Water bottle, hand sanitizer, tea pouch, biscuit

Ride and In coach Experience

The tracks on most part of Railway network have been upgraded for about 130 kmph and VB took no time to sprint ahead at that speed. The ride is very quiet and non jerky. Bored of sitting and as I had an aisle seat, I went to the coach entry gates to spend some time looking at the mustard fields through the glass pane of the door. I immediately felt the difference - the music in my earphones got lost, I could hear the thak-thak of the wheels running on the tracks with the typical side movement of a running train. After some time, as soon as I returned back to the seat through the sliding door, the music in my earphone became audible, the noise vanished and movement was not felt.

Being a Monday, the train was full with all seats occupied as people were travelling back to NCR after celebrating kite flying in Jaipur. Still, there was no big hassle of keeping luggage as the overhead luggage shelf could accommodate all the suitcases and bags. The coaches are lit well, seat numbers are marked clearly at a height for easy identification and there are number of cctv cameras inside the coach.

Emergency stop button for sliding door and instructions in braille

Khane Mein kya hai - Food

After some time, the breakfast arrives, being early morning in nicely packed containers in a tray. By that time, tea, biscuit and newspapers have helped the passenger get relaxed. Once again, a pouch of sanitizer is given - how thoughtful of Indian Railways

The contents inside

For a vegetarian breakfast, I was surprised to get poori bhaji, a small cutlet, curd and small fruit cake. The meal was good. After the breakfast, you can also order more tea if needed. I did.

In a casual chat with the service personnel, they revealed their catch-22 situation. Some passengers do not include meals in the ticket but order tea etc. which can be purchased additionally. They can be served only after serving those who have purchased meals. This annoys these passengers and they behave rudely. If they complain, then the staff can be sacked also.

In Coach Entertainment

The onboard wifi when connected provides nice interface for entertainment, train info, food etc. You can report a fire, ask for cleanliness or get medical help through the same.

Home page of onboard wifi

On home page, the burger menu gives various options for entertainment with very limited set of movies etc. Thathasthu movie was the only option available.

The journey details

Confirm your option

Coach Amenities

At the risk of repeating, I will share some details about various features of the coaches.

Talk Back Unit to report any emergency

Fire Extinguisher

Continue reading BHPian autobahnjpr's review for more insights and information.

For a short 4.5 hour journey, unless one is travelling as a family of four OR a group of 4 corporates who'd like to hold a meeting, the EC is just fancy.

BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction

Just about a year after I took my first ride on the Mysuru - Chennai Vande Bharat Express, it was time to repeat the experience. This time, we decided to try the Executive Class. Bhpian @84.monsoon has covered a lot of features of the Executive Class on this train via this post, and I'll try adding some dimensions which might not have been covered before. Here are two pics - one from my first ride and one from now - same shooter, same cam, same platform.

Nov-2022

First impressions of the Executive Class

Sensor actuated doors, wide lobby, cabin upkeep was all fine - in fact it was good to see the train being kept well even after a year. Now comes the new dimension I hinted in the first post. Among most passengers boarding the Executive Class coach, there was this air of sophistication with bombastic English, and along with bombastic English, I could clearly see an attitude to show that they own the train. This isn't an aberration. Here are some:

1. crowding around the entrance not giving way to alighting passengers
2. getting in casually without showing concern for other passengers behind
3. blocking the aisle and taking their own time to settle down unmindful of the inconvenience being caused to others
4. asking for wifi immediately on being seated
5. asking for the seats to be rotated

On the positive side, though, here are some good ones (some might be repeat observations)

Likes

• Supreme cleanliness and upkeep even a year later
• Blinds on the massive windows still work as intended
• Great wide cozy seats with additional with a velcro fastened foam pad which can be placed to one's convenience
• Flexi seats - move them around 360 degrees
• Emergency communication system
• Aircraft biz class style tray table is the best I've seen in an Indian train till date
• filling high tea
• CCTV cameras
• Smoke detectors
• Fire detectors and alarms
• Bio-vacuum toilet
• Jaquar taps on the washbasins

Dislikes

• Seat fabric might wear away with time
• on board wifi could not be used
• one side's electronic door opening switch in coach E1 wasn't working; got rectified later

Experiencing Executive Class

I will let the pictures do the talking

Seatback - can store quite some stuff

Headrest foam pad - adjustable to suit passenger's head and height

Place the foam pad to suit one's head

Spectrawide footrest

Soft touch reading lights

Nice to see a wifi connection on board a train

Overhead rack

The 360 degree rotatable seat - gaze out of the windows or have a meeting, face in direction of the train or against it

Continue reading BHPian vigsom's review for more insights and information.

Unlike the Vistadome coaches, there is really no luggage restriction in this, cabin (trolley) bags can nestle behind ones legs under the seat as well, at a pinch:

BHPian GeeTee TSI recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I had my Bangalore Chennai Vande Bharat ride a few weeks ago, sharing a few pictures here

High quality, massive window blinds - make sure you ask the adjacent passenger before moving it:

Nice reading lights which work and are effective, although they have never dimmed or turned off the overhead cabin lights for this to be used:

Double glazed windows ensure a quiet ride, which I can vouch for after a near back to back trip in the Shatabdi for comparison. There is significantly less pitch/roll too, overall ride quality and NVH feels like a D segment+ car:

The regular (CC) class has a 2+1 layout, narrow armrest and you need to 'share' the sole middle one with your co-passenger. If that bugs you then EC class is the way to go, otherwise seats in the CC are quite well sized:

Phenomenal leg room for my 180 cm frame, this is where fast premium trains can trump LCCs:

One long uninterrupted luggage shelf can easily take large (check in sized) bags longitudinally, the extra large (overseas spec) bag probably needs to have a transverse layout.

Since there are no partitions, one can make incremental shifts to a long line of bags to magically get a snug fit for one's own. That said, I think the luggage shelf atop the 3 seater section can be wider for increased capacity.

Unlike the Vistadome coaches, there is really no luggage restriction in this, cabin (trolley) bags can nestle behind ones legs under the seat as well, at a pinch:

Roof cladding and ducts (finally) look world class:

I happened to get the emergency row and there was this console staring at me:

A step change from how we perceive our train travel, much like how we felt travelling in the first Volvo B7R back in the day; coming from AL and TML buses.

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Decided to go for the Executive Chair car on the Vande Bharat, though it is twice the cost and nearly as expensive as a flight to Bengaluru.

BHPian 84.monsoon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It has been a couple of months since the Chennai - Mysuru Vande Bharat express was launched, finally got my chance to ride this train to Bengaluru. I generally try to take newly launched super fast trains very soon after they get flagged off, to get that “fresh” experience of the train. Did the Chennai - Madurai Tejas express on Day 2, but various other priorities prevented me from trying out the Vande Bharat earlier.

The perfect opportunity arose when my engineering batchmates decided to meet in Bengaluru to get together with two of the visiting America-basis. Although flying would have been more efficient this time, as the meet-up was at the Angsana resort near the Bengaluru airport, however, the draw of trying out the Vande Bharat made me choose the train over a flight this time. I would have loved to drive, especially since I had acquired a new BMW only a week ago, but since I was recuperating from a shoulder injury, which made driving slightly painful, decided against it.

On a recent journey on the Tejas express, I felt the regular Chair car was a bit cramped. As one gets on in age, subconsciously one seeks more comfort. Decided to go for the Executive Chair car on the Vande Bharat, though it is twice the cost and nearly as expensive as a flight to Bengaluru. Also, it would be a good chance to check out the seating and comfort features of this flagship class.

Took a cab and reached Chennai Central station by 5.25 am. The Vande Bharat had secured its pride of place on platform number 1! The benefit of Chennai Central is that one can walk to any platform without climbing stairs, so in a few minutes, I was at Platform 1 and had a first look at the sleek and majestic Vande Bharat.

The white and blue colour palette of the train gives it an arresting appearance during both night and daytime. The exteriors had been well washed and maintained really cleanly, I could not find any dirty areas or stains. The train has been in operation for 3 months, on a daily basis travelling 1000 kilometres, yet did not show any wear and tear, I am sure it is getting the top priority in terms of upkeep and maintenance. Also fortunately, the aam junta in these southern states don’t pelt stones at the Vande Bharat, even if it represents a shining achievement of the ruling Central Government!

Fortunately, the two Executive Chair car coaches were located in the middle of the train, which meant it would not be too close to the engine. In many trains, the topmost class coach (e.g. AC First Class H1 coach) is located almost right next to the engine, after say one sitting coach, making it very noisy during the journey, with all the honking from the engine going on. There were approximately seven regular Chair car coaches on either side of the EC1&2 coaches.

There is a clear evolution in the design of the coaches compared to the previous premium trains such as the Tejas express. The surfaces are finished better and the edges are well-rounded, to make sure there are no sharp edges or protrusions that could potentially injure passengers when moving about. There is plenty of space on either end of the couch to store luggage, making sure there is a gap between the last row of seats and the back wall. The overhead luggage rack could however have been deeper and a little lower to allow for taller luggage to be stowed.

The Executive chair car seats are wide and well-spaced out. As someone who is 6’2” tall, I found the room between my seat and the one ahead to be quite generous, even when the front seats were pushed back all the way. The seats have a good level of reclining possible, I would say nearly 15 degrees or so. The seat cushion at the base is just right, being sufficiently firm for the long journey, while not being too hard. However, the seat back is rock hard!

There is a generously sized footrest provided, which reclines at a 45-degree angle. It is really comfortable and makes all the difference to seating comfort when catching a snooze. There are generous seat back pockets where one can stow laptops, newspapers, etc.

In the middle of the cabin, there are two rows of seats facing each other, allowing families to be together. However, I am not sure how one would book these, as there were no options to select these seats while booking. This brings me to my pet peeve about the IRCTC booking process, it does not offer a seat map-based seat/berth selection. Even bus booking sites offer this and it is high time IRCTC did this. I think the fundamental reason is that the underlying booking system of Indian railways is based on the 1980s computerised booking project, which was state of the art then but very dated now.

The train set off exactly on the dot. Because of the fact that the whole rake is powered electrically through motors at different points along the rake, the traditional feel of being pulled from the front as the train accelerates is completely absent. The acceleration is very smooth and linear, and the train is moving at a substantial speed before one realises it. The ride is very plush, with very few vertical bumps coming into the passenger compartment. I found the ride to be much more settled than the normal LHB coaches on super-fast trains. Lateral movement is almost nil, for the most part of the journey, which makes the journey much less tiring.

Currently, the Chennai-Bengaluru rail line is rated for a maximum speed of 110 kph. Successful trials have been completed about 2 weeks ago for the Chennai-Jolarpet section to run trains at 130 kph. However, final approvals have not come through and so the Vande Bharat was running most of the time at the current permitted speed of 110 kph. There is a section of the track near Ambur where the train substantially slowed down and proceeded at crawling speeds for about 10-15 minutes. Displays on board the train constantly show the current speed, just like bullet trains and other high-speed trains in Japan/China etc.

The toilets on the train are spacious and the latches and bolts have smooth edges and movements. This is the one thing I always worry about in train toilets, getting my hands injured trying to slide or force stiff and sharp latches. The maintenance of the Vande Bharat toilets is impeccable, and I could see them getting cleaned even midway through the 4-hour journey. The flushes are soft touch and electronically controlled. One flush and a vacuum mechanism make sure the water usage is optimised and the bowl is fully cleaned out.

Quite a lot of food is served on the train, starting with biscuits and tea about 15 minutes into the journey. Tea and coffee severed on board are based on a 3-in-1 premix powder made by Chayzup, which contains the beverage powder, milk powder and sugar. Hot water is poured in to make the beverage. The masala tea is very good and the coffee is ok.

Soon after, cornflakes and warm milk is served in actual ceramic bowls and spoons. This is amazing, as even in western countries, plastic bowls are the standard for train service. The bowl is actually heavy and well-made. Only on business class international flights have I seen this type of cutlery being used.

The train reached the only intermediate stop, Kapadi, in around 95 minutes. After Katpadi, a full breakfast was served, consisting of soft idlis, a vada and Rava Kesari, accompanied by apple juice, a cookie and coffee. The food is of a much higher standard than what one generally gets in Shatabdi, Tejas and other similar trains. The service is very efficient and plates are cleared very soon after people finished breakfast. A banana or apple is offered as a final item of breakfast.

The train pulled into Bangalore city junction (Now called KSR Bengaluru) before the scheduled arrival time of 10.15 AM. I am sure that in the coming months, the journey will get even faster and one could probably expect to be in Bengaluru before 10 AM!

All in all, the journey to Bengaluru was very comfortable and quick, and I would prefer this to fly any day.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

The way it picks up speed is nothing short of amazing and now the signature clack-clack sound of the tracks is almost unnoticeable. Horizontal shake has also greatly reduced.

BHPian porsche_guy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My experience with the Vande Bharat Express.

Likes:

• Feels modern and brand new inside out.
• Some well thought out features and attention to detail.
• Wide and comfortable seats.
• Much lower NVH and a smoother ride.
• Very spacious coach layout.

Dislikes:

• Only one WC per coach.
• Train is futuristic but staff is stuck in time.
• Overhead racks mean carrying large and heavy luggage can be an issue.
• No halt at any suburban Mumbai stations.
• Still doesn't run at its top speed (for now) making the high speed capabilities useless.

About the 20902 GNC-MMCT Vande Bharat Express:

The Gandhinagar Capital- Mumbai Central Vande Bharat was launched on September 30th and I remember the kind of fanfare it enjoyed (and continues to) when it came out and it was a very refreshing change to see. Having seen these coaches for a couple of times, I yearned to travel in them soon if only for the high ticket prices and no time to spare from my very busy schedule. So finally when I got the opportunity, I immediately booked a seat on it from BRC to MMCT this month and was delighted to see the now digestible prices as well. I'll try to do justice to it.

The journey:

This time around, it being a solo trip I decided to opt for the CC coaches. Do note that there is an EC coach as well in this train but the differences aren't that significant. It's just a 2x2 layout instead of 3x2 in CC with mildly better seats which can be rotated by upto 180 degrees. With the CC seats being awesome as it is, I don't see much value addition in the latter either.

The scheduled arrival of the train at BRC is 15:56 and while the train was a few minutes late, I have to admit I haven't seen such a stir among fellow travellers till now. Everybody was in the awe of the "bullet train" (I know it isn't one) and it enjoyed sort of a celebrity status with everybody clicking pics and videos(some even selfies with it!). Take into mind that the this wasn't the first week of the train running but a good 3 months after its inaugural run.

Soon, it came to a silent stop and the doors opened to reveal a very airy, non-Indian Railways feeling lobby. As you climb inside you notice it's no longer an uphill trek onto it. Inside, as I got settled onto my seat I could take a much closer look as it was astonishing. It still took me a few minutes to understand this was still India!

Soon enough, the train started rolling and the silence and effortlessness was mind-blowing. The way it picks up speed is nothing short of amazing and now the signature clack-clack sound of the tracks is almost unnoticeable. Horizontal shake has also greatly reduced compared to LHB coaches and you really don't notice the speeds the train is doing.

Another observation of mine were the seats. Greatly improved from ones in LHB rakes, they are now wider, have a taller backrest, great legroom, have much better and compliant cushioning and most importantly- existent thigh support! The bright blue fabric also does not feel too harsh on your skin and gives a fresh look to the interiors. Interestingly, the armrests also have padding. Note: the seat numbers with Braille embossing and ergonomically placed handles for the standees. There was also one USB port and one plug point per passenger placed under the seat.

As you move further back the coach you'll notice that the last 3 or so rows have been removed freeing up acres of space! I'm not sure if it was just on this C1 coach but there's also a single seat there for handicapped people. This area makes a perfect place to stand away for taking calls, stretching your legs etc. although I do wish a luggage rack of sorts (a là Vistadome coach) was integrated here for the heavier stuff.

Press the button and the door to the lobby opens electronically(pointless without motion sensors) and you are greeted to a very clean, minimalistic and spacious lobby. Two jump seats are also given for whatever reasons.

To enter the WC area there is another button you have to push and the door slides open automatically and there's a well-lit and fancy area to do your business in. The fittings are luxurious and there's no reason to feel claustrophobic either. A very important touch to the train is that moving in between coaches isn't the near-death like experience it used to feel like before with all the loud noises and incessant shaking with an flimsy looking connector. Have a look for yourself:

Food and service:

As part of the catering, snacks and tea were served first to everybody. After waiting for what seemed like eternity for my portion to arrive, I had to call upon the staff who conveniently "forgot" to serve it to me. The entire attitude overall was quite apathetic, a stark contrast to what I experienced earlier this year in the Tejas Express. I guess IRCTC has shifted focus away from IR run trains.

Anyways here is the what I got. Nothing fancy and the quantity was quite less as well. Lesson learnt: Bring your own food next time onwards:

Dinner wasn't anything great either and a contradiction to the king sized meals one used to get on Shatabdis pre-covid. Service otherwise too was not to be boasted about. While the train was quite clean overall, there was a lack of empathy as a whole with staff onboard- stuff you thought was behind you by 2022.

The train faced a major blockage just before Surat but made good time afterwards and managed to reduce the delay from an hour to 20 minutes while we reached the destination. No stops until MMCT meant a Mumbai local ride was in the offing. Truly an authentic Mumbaikar experience! But that story is for another time.

For now, it was time to bid goodbye to the Vande Bharat. I enjoyed the experience barring the poor service quality and typically ignorant and loud co-passengers but hey, it wasn't the trains fault! I absolutely loved this journey and look forward to traveling on this train again. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm really proud of the direction our railways are heading in and wish them the best of luck.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

To give a perspective, it takes 2 hours 50 mins for a distance of 244 km. In comparison, the Kalka-Shatabdi Express takes 3 hours 30 mins and a road trip on average takes about 5 hours.

BHPian jbpanda recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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 the 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 km. By way of comparison, the Kalka Shatabdi Express takes 3 hrs 30 mins, a road trip on average takes about 5 hrs and a 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 latter being higher. The catering charges for Shatabdi were higher by INR 210, which was possible 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 a few pictures for reference.

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Indian Railways has come a long way. I was blown away by the effort taken by several teams in building this train. Just like how I found the Tejas coaches feature rich, this one has its great points.

BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Introduction:

I consider myself fortunate to have seized an opportunity to travel by the new star of Southern Railway - the Mysuru Chennai Vande Bharat Express, on just its fourth day of operation. Having had some bittersweet experiences on trains in the recent months, I was just looking forward to another point A (Bengaluru) to point B (Chennai) journey, but was blown away by the effort taken by several teams in building this train. Just like how I found the Tejas coaches feature rich, this one has its great points. Read on.

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

I needed to get to Chennai from Bengaluru and was wanting a day express. Realizing that the Vande Bharat Express was operational, and that trains running in the morning were heavily booked, I decided to try the young stallion, which showed no dynamic fare, a catering charge of just INR 86 (for some not so high tea), and a convenient 3pm departure. What was surprising is that this train had just one halt, at Katpadi enroute from Bengaluru to Chennai. Opportunities like this don't come every day, and so I went ahead and booked my place.

Arrival at KSR Bengaluru:

Platform 7 at KSR Bengaluru was nothing short of an exhibition of sorts with a whole posse of security personnel waiting to welcome the VIP (Vande Bharat Express). The tracks have never been this clean, and the escalators at the main entry and onto platform 7 were clean and functional. As the stallion rolled in, passengers and onlookers pulled their weapons(aka mobile phones) to take shots of the VIP. The security personnel were shouting out to onlookers to stay away from the track and did seem to mention that taking unsafe selfies might take them to smashaan (crematorium); the mood on the platform was kind of celebratory.

Vande Bharat Express rolling in with spectators all charged up:

First impressions of the Vande Bharat Express:

Just like the Tejas ,there was this wide entry, massive lobby, and a sensor-actuated sliding door led us to the air-conditioned cabin. The moment I sat down in my seat, I could feel the difference - the seats just hug the passengers, underthigh support was way way better than the Shatabdis, the cabin was overall well-appointed and most importantly, the temperature was well controlled unlike freezing zones that I've experienced in other trains of late.

Likes:

• Classy on the outside – plain white with a blue band and blackened windows.
• Tremendous acceleration like the EMUs - key differentiator.
• Massive windows give an airy feel to the cabin.
• Seats offer good comfort.
• Blinds on all windows are manually operated but can be set at any position.
• Emergency communication system.
• Tray table is the best I've seen in an Indian train till date.
• Air suspension makes the ride much much smoother.
• CCTV cameras.
• Smoke detectors.
• Fire detectors and alarms.
• Bio-vacuum toilet.
• Jaquar taps on the washbasins.

Dislikes:

Seat fabric will definitely wither away with use; leatherette would have been easy to maintain.

Noise insulation could have been better.

Experiencing the Vande Bharat Express:

Showcased below are some of what I observed keenly while on board.

The best seats I've sat in in recent times; however, I expect the seat fabric to start wearing off like in the Shatabdis:

Cabin view - Note the massive windows:

Grab handles on the aisle seats - useful to hold on to when moving down the aisle:

Seat back:

Magazine holder deep inside:

Bottle holders placed deep down:

Tray table is stable and well supported:

Tray table in the closed position - note the high quality hooks:

Seat recline control lever hidden:

Seat recline angle is good enough:

Power supply sockets (three pin and USB) under the seat - none on the side panels:

Rare sight to see a train skip Bengaluru Cantt:

Overtaking the Double Decker Express:

Continue reading on BHPian vigsom's experience of the Vande Bharat Express for BHPian comments, insights and more information.