Railways has been a crucial part of my life since a very young age. With my grandparents settled in a different city, every summer vacation brought the ritualistic train travel.
With age, I started traveling alone and for a number of reasons, security being the most important, I used to take the Shatabdi mostly between Lucknow and Delhi.
So when I first saw a Vande Bharat train this Thursday, my first impression was – “this is so similar to the Shatabdi".
On Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off two Vande Bharats from Mumbai, I got an opportunity to travel in one of them between Mumbai and Sainagar Shirdi. The other one was between Mumbai and Solapur.
These were flagged off from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai at 4pm.
Around an hour into the journey, I realised that the seats were relatively comfortable compared to the Shatabdi. Among the things I found most interesting was a dedicated charging point for each passenger in both executive as well as chair car class. These points were below the seats in the chair car and on the hand rest in executive class.
The charging point has one USB port and one plug point in the chair car. In the executive class, it also has a type-C point that facilitates charging for Apple users.
Older trains, including the Shatabdi, provided charging points that had to be shared by multiple passengers. With the number of devices each person uses going up, personal charging ports were much needed on trains.
The Vande Bharat also has spacious toilets with sufficient space between the seat and washbasin. There were, however, fewer toilets. For every coach, there are just two toilets – one western style and one Indian style. In usual chair car trains, each coach has four toilets.
The lobby area in Vande Bharat is larger, allowing more passengers to stand. A passenger can stretch their legs or take calls in the area without blocking the passage.
I travelled in the executive class of the Vande Bharat Express that offered comfort similar to the business class compartment. The seats have a head and foot rest. The arrangement in each row is 2+2 for the executive class, while it is 3+2 in the chair car. Each train has 14 coaches of the chair car and two executive class coaches.
While the chair car does not have a rotation option, it is there in the executive class. That means you can face the window if you wish to enjoy the scenic view.
A number of locations between Mumbai and Shirdi, particularly in the Ghat section, offered mesmerising views. And as the train left late in the evening, I got to enjoy the sunset from my seat, a made-for-social media moment.
You can also move the chairs to either of the two sides – facing the direction of the train’s movement or the opposite way. It’s a handy option if you are travelling in groups of more than two people.
In terms of security, the train’s gates are locked all the time and no one can open them unless it is the designated stop. So even if the train is forced to halt at deserted locations, there is no threat of intruders.
The train also has a feature where passengers can speak to the loco pilot directly. We tested it to check the time left until our destination Shirdi. We got an immediate response.
Our journey ended around 10pm with a grand welcome in Shirdi.
Overall, the trip was good. This train is particularly helpful for those who wish to visit Shirdi’s Shri Sai Baba Temple. The train will start from CST at 6:20am and will reach Sainagar Shirdi at 11:40am. The train will start from Shirdi at 5:25pm and reach Mumbai at 10:50pm. It will run on all days, except Tuesdays, and halt at Dadar, Thane and Nashik Road.
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