[porsche_guy]

Originally Posted by vigsom

Summing it up

The orange Vande Bharat Express is a train whose looks will grow on you. Immediately after experiencing a white, looking at an orange and grey might look dull, but the great thing is the blackened windows blend really well into the overall colour theme. Like an orange car vs a white car - looks and likes are subjective. The seats on the orange offer better comfort, fabric is likely to last longer, there is more safety equipment on board and a slight improvement in visual appeal inside. The basic formula is the same, with some more kick!

Just like last time, I also managed to take the orange VB from Borivali to Vadodara just a few days after you and I do concur with most of your observations.



The seatbacks especially I feel are inferior to the white VB. They do look cleaner but the full length makes you feel more claustrophobic and hemmed in plus there's tons of space on them which went unused and could have easily accommodated a cupholder, larger tray table and even a smartphone holder like one sees on Vistara and some Akasa flights. Compared to that you just have one massive slab of grey metal.



The seats are fairly comfortable but they are flat and hard and I imagine those will get uncomfortable over longer journeys. Somehow I also felt that the aisles at the ends of coaches are easier to move about and slightly more spacious as well. Finally, the snacks provided were average but the dinner was fantastic. Kudos to whoever is maintaining the Surat kitchen for the delicious food. I also noticed a distinct uptick in the service levels, now I don't know if it was this particular set of staff but they were fairly prompt and kept checking in on the passengers every few minutes along with helping elderly stow their baggage and retrieve it.



I think this is as good as it gets from a government organisation and there is scope for improvement too but those are minor things that won't make much difference. Now the next focus IMO should be on making the platforms better. 4.30pm in peak Mumbai heat was nothing short of torture and Borivali should have a dedicated platform for outstation trains along with an AC waiting room large enough to accommodate people.

[PreludeSH]

Happened to travel on Vande Bharat to Mysuru. The looks on the outside was not that great. On the inside, in the executive class the seats were very good.

The finish of the interior otherwise was not that great. The panels where they meet had come out and did not have a smooth finish. The comfort was great even at higher speeds but I do think our tracks need to upgrade for even better comfort.

Had booked breakfast and most of it was dry packed items except the masala vade. Guess there is still some way to go for build quality of the trains.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Bouyed by posts of dear member Vigsom tried Vande Bharat train between Chennai and Tirunelveli. One word - Fantastic.

This was a short family summer gettogether visit to Tuticorin. For short time India visitors like us train travel is always difficult due to time. But this train promised 6 hours travel to cover 540 kms so all things fell in place.

Flight tickets came to 10 k per person for round trip, so 30 k for 3 people. Rains were predicted so couldnt drive. Decided to try trains this time. Booked Vande bharat for onward and Nellai 1 AC for return.

Vande Bharat (9/10)

Arrived on the dot af 3:13 pm at Tambaram station.


Tea and snacks: Popcorn, puffed rice and spinach vada - not oily - excellent.



Beautiful view of Madurantakam Lake


General observations:

• Legroom was much much better than Indigo flight seat. NVH was excellent. No clikaty clack sounds.

• Luggage has no restriction like flight.

• Can bring home cooked food and eat.

• Restrooms were clean - It was also cleaned twice during the 7 hour journey.

• Just before Tiruchy it started raining cat and dogs - visibility was near 0 - yet they constantly maintained 110 kmphr . Rain caused 10 min delay at Tiruchy and it was never made up.

• The window beadings look ill fitted so feared water might leak - but am happy to report no water leakage was noticed.

• Best part: Since it was summer holiday season, train was full of families with school kids. My super girl had a blast with the kids and reminded of 90s train travel. Somebody played "Thanimayile inimai kana mudiyuma" (Translation: can one find happiness by being lonely?) tamil classic song and it was apt for this travel.

• Dinner was simple and tasty - tried the veg combo.

• Since there were lot of kids, one child dropped the food tray and food got spilled in the row behind us. The cleaning crew were notified and they immediately swung into action and in 5 mins the mess was cleared and given a nice dettol wipe. Kudos to the whole cleaning and managing crew .

• Only downside for me - no stoppage at Kovilpatti for easy transferring to Tuticorin. Had to get down at Virudhunagar and it added 45 mins travel time by car. Hope this stoppage is implemented soon.

Never ever flying Indigo from Chennai to Tuticorin again. Flight travel usually takes 6 hours from home to home travel. Train took 9 hours at 1/3 of the price and was a million times more fun. Thank you Vigsom!!


Return journey was through Nellai 1 AC (5/10).

Clikaty clack sound.
Stinky toilets
Rainwater leakage near the doors.