It happened that were planning to go the Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela and wanted to go to Delhi and come back ASAP. The fares for the air travel were very high since it was an adhoc programme. I checked for the available trains and the time it takes for the entire travel. I saw this typical train that had started from Pune to Delhi named Duronto Exp 2263. Saw that the total travel time is around 20 hours and there is no stopping in between! I checked it thrice to make sure that it doesn’t have any stoppages in between and that it shall start from Pune and stop at Delhi. Further, the tickets were available too. The platform for booking tickets for Duronto is the same like booking a ticket for Rajdhani Exp.(For these trains we have to provide an information of Veg/Non Veg food) The fare was around 1500 and I was settled with the reservation from Pune to Delhi to Pune on the same train.(Coming back on Tuesday)
Now, as per the known Indian Railways standards, I was not sure of the food quality and since the train is not stopping anywhere it was risky to not to have anything with us and if didn’t like the food then we are trapped. So, as a precaution we took a hefty packages of food items/fruits/cold drinks/some namkeen/ etc etc. But what we had on board made us laugh on ourselves. The food served was too much and of good quality too.
Let me begin as what they served:
The train started at around 11.10 AM and at 11.40 we were served with some snacks and welcome drinks. Then at 12.15 soup sticks and butter were served and within 10 minutes came the soup (Soup was Ok). The presentation was good and the items very branded like butter was from Amul and sauces were from Maggi!
At around 2 PM they served Veg/Non Veg food. It was hot and of good quality. Then came deserts like Gulab Jamun/Icecream (Amul)/Soan Papdi (Haldiram)
At 4 came tea/coffee. At 5.30 to 6 they again served us with soup sticks and butter and within 15 minutes the soup was served and at 8 PM came food. (This time the food was boarded from Vadodara)
The service was very good and cordial staff too. So far so good. We didn’t touched anything that we brought with us apart from fruits! If you notice there was no breather in between two servings. It was just back to back with some standard transit delay. (Since they have to serve the entire train)
The lavatories were clean, with soaps in the soap dishes...Now this becomes a luxury as per rail standards! We normally see the empty vessels and not so clean toilets on board. But Duronto is a different experience all through.
At night the attendant came to ask us whether any of us needs milk/tea/coffee (there are many people that drink tea at night times and some drink coffee too) He also made sure to provide milk to one of our co passenger since she had a small baby! That’s a really good service and care from railways! (Since now a days you have to mention that if a toddler is travelling with you right in the reservation form)
At around 5.30 I woke up and saw that the train has halted somewhere! I enquired with the attendant and he said "Sirjee, train before time hai aur Delhi aadha Ghata door hai! (Scheduled time of arrival is 7.20 AM) (These days trains are running mostly on time - LOL)
Now everything couldn’t be so good with Duronto! There are few negatives too.
The frequency of the train is just once in a week. The train starts on Friday and comes back on Tuesday. May be in future this will increase and it shall.
Another problem is that you can’t stand on the door of this fast running train! It is dam fast and attendants make sure that nobody opens the door. I love to be there on that door sometimes but in this train I have to be seated at the windows. (Dad prefers me to be on the windows always...LOL)
Duronto Exp is the big leap for the Indian Railways and the effort of the ministry is showing good results too. These trains run full most of the time and generate a huge revenue for them and for passengers its a good, fast and safe option to travel. Again the train is launched as per its elder sister Rajdhani Exp. The entire look of the train is inviting and classes provided as 1/2/3 and 3E
Thank you for reading the review and please shower your comments on it. (Since there might be some who didn’t had a good time onboard Duronto)
Enjoy.