[vigsom]

Experiencing Executive Class on the Chennai - Bengaluru evening Shatabdi Express

Had an opportunity to travel by the Executive Class on the Shatabdi with the evening departure ex. Chennai Central; I was stepping into the Executive Class on this train for the first time and in a First AC Chair car after perhaps 15 years.

What I liked

1. Cleanliness of both the cabin and the washrooms - the washrooms were clean and dry even towards the end of the journey
2. Firm comfortable seats with the best seat pitch in business
3. Good food service - well spaced out and timed
4. Demeanour of the catering staff
5.Easy to access - the coach was very close to the entry point of platform#2

What could have been better

1. For the first time in many journeys, no complaints

The cabin in Executive Class - nothing special about it


The comfortable Executive Class seat


Seat pitch


Snack


Finally, some soup in a Shatabdi


Meal minus the rice (I decided to skip the rice)


Kadai Paneer and dal with some chapatis- well made


After the meal - putting the waste away neatly to make the steward's job of disposal easy


Best washroom seen in a long time - clean and dry

[V.Narayan]

Taking inspiration from this thread I travelled by two train journeys in the last ten days thus doubling the number of train trips done in 20 years in one go!!!. The first was a chair car from Howrah to Jamshedpur leaving Howrah early in the morning and getting to Jamshedpur about 4 odd hours later. Unfortunately the state of maintenance of the train - a Shatabdi I think - was poor and the state of the toilets was worse. Ditto for cleanliness of the entrance/exit areas. The other was an over night journey in an AC 2-tier from Jamshedpur to Raipur by Howrah Mail. Similar observations and toilets that at least fussy me simply could not use. I also learnt that my late middle-age body is no longer adept at sleeping and resting in sleeper trains. I guess I'm going to avoid sleepers hereafter!

[Nimz]

Quick question to those who have traveled by Anubhuti... Does anyone know if the toilets have provision to change nappies?

Traveling with a baby - would Vande Bharat be better?