Travelled in 12041 Shatabdi express to NJP. Coach was C3. Train was full from Howrah itself. But to the biggest despair, the train's maintenance was totally unsatisfactory. Washrooms were not properly cleaned, almost 80 % windows are broken ( from my previous journey).
Started exactly on 14:15, SGUJ wdp 4 cruised through the chord line at top speed, skipping Bardhaman jn. Lunch was served in between. Opted for non-veg which was as usual comprised of rice, dal, chapattis, chicken curry, dahi & icecream.
Reached Bolpur 5 mins early. After that evening snacks...
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was served. First time experienced Rasogolla. It was a puja bonanza. Then skipped Rampurhat but made to halt at a place after Nalhati. Came to know that vacuum pipe of rear power car leaked. It was made to strand here for 15 mins making a delay of total 21 mins. But no major problem occured. Then, the train geared up to make up its lost time and finally reached New Farakka 4 mins late.
Arrived Malda Town on 19:11 hrs ( 6 mins late ). Almost most of the pax of our coach deboarded here. And another lot boarded making it full again. Again the train accelerated to maintain its scheduled time to reach Barsoi. The halt is commercially not fruitful. Then reached Kishanganj after 35 mins delay.
Then it was in no mood to slow. I was feeling relieved, hoping that it would reach by 22:30. But fortune did not favour us. The barrier of Rangapani was overcome but was made to stop at outer signal. 20 mins passed and there was no sign to proceed. 45 mins passed. Passengers were filled with anguish. Did not knew the reason behind it. Finally it started after 50 mins and arrived NJP at 23:25 hrs making a total delay of 1 hrs 5 mins. Such kind of unpunctuality is not at all expected from a premier category train. Whenever this train enters it own territory, it faces harsh attitude of the controllers. Hope, they try to maintain the prestige of shatabdi. Overall it was more or less an average jouney.
Hope u like my first attempt of trip report !