I travelled with my friends in this train yesterday from SBC-PER stretch. First I reached SBC from MYS by Tippu express which brought us ten min behind the schedule and it was halted in platform no 9 before continuing as SMET express. After having lunch , we boarded this train at 14:30. Our compartment was C10 and our seats were in the middle deck near the doors. The loco in charge was a RPM WAP 7. The train started bang on time and immediately the WAPPIE showed its class and reached BNC and KJM on time , where large number of passengers boarded and train was full. At KJM , LKO-YPR welcomed us , after a two min halt at KJM , the train started and the whirlwind HWH Duronto rushed passed and brutally overtook LKO express. The WAP 7 was constantly cruising at a good speed at reached BWT at...
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15:40 (3 minutes before schedule). I got down and checked the passengers boarding , it was almost nil, Then the BWT-JTJ stretch which showcased WAP 7's real power , it was like flying and it reached JTJ at 16:43 , a whooping 17 minutes before the schedule , even Shatabdi has not been this much impressive (Maybe because it was not provided with a WAP 7). Me and my friends got down here and had a tea. At 17:03 our train got the starter we proceeded towards KPD. We reached Ambur in the scheduled time and had a one minute halt where some passengers alighted. Then again a good show by WAP 7 and we reached KPD at 18:08 , once again 5 minutes before schedule. Then we proceeded towards AJJ and reached at 19:05 (3 minutes before schedule) , then it continued towards MAS and blasted the Chennai suburbs and reached PER at 20:03 (6 minutes before schedule) . I got down at PER and my friends continued to MAS as they were proceeding to Thiruvanmaiyur. I learnt from them that DD was made to wait at BBQ for ten minutes and eventually reached MAS at 20:30 (15 minutes before the schedule).
Ratings:
Speed: 10/10 [BWT-JTJ-KPD was outstanding]
Food: 8/10 [Despite the absence of the pantry car , A decent catering service was available and tasted good ]
Cleanliness: 8/10 [Interiors was neat, Restroom were good . The negative thing is the presence of cracks in some windows due to stone pelting , Railways cannot be blamed for this, Garbage cans was not cleaned but it was not overflowing. The coach attendant said that it will be cleaned at MAS ]
Comfort:3/10 [The only disadvantage of this train , Leg space was very less , no push back seats. The sliding door was very tight to push , Old people and little kids literally struggled to slide it , as we were seated near the doors we were helping them]
Coach: 10/10 [ Coach was 2012 made. Charging points were working, AC was fantastic, Maintenance was good]
IMHO , this train's schedule should be speeded up by 30 minutes if it uses WAP 7 or it should be given a WAP1 or WAM4 for the current schedule . WAP 7 bought us ahead of the time almost in all the parts of our journey.