Rajdhani Travel

Yesterday (8th January 2014) I landed at Bangalore at 3.20 PM.  Train was late by 8 Hours 40 minutes only. This is the longest delay by Rajdhani Express as experience by me.  Sometime back, somebody asked me as to where I am settled. I told him that I am unsettled and sometimes at Delhi, Kerala, Bangalore etc. When he further asked where I will be most of the time, I said that most of the time I may be in then train. It appears to have boomeranged. However, the record for longest delay is that of Ernakulum Duranto Express on my journey during July 2011 which reached 36 hours late.  Due to heavy rain at Konkan region the train had to take a U turn and diverted the route via Pune, Bangalore etc.  Since it has only one stop after the starting station, it need not follow any route and can run vertically, diagonally etc and in the process gave a Bharat Darshan to the commuters. (When the Duranto trains were introduced I objected about the name of the Train as it is not a local train running through Bengal, but running across the length and breadth of the country. If Railway Ministers belonging to various states gives names of their regional language, what will happen can be left to wild imagination). On another occasion Mangla Lakshadweep Express reached 26 hours late. While the passengers were aware of the delay, passersby thought that it is delayed by 2 hours only.

It was very cold outside and inside also. One should feel comfortable with normal clothes in an air conditioned room or compartment. But it was cold after using sweater, jacket and blanket. AC attendant was conspicuous by his absence. I think Railways should have another class of compartment like Freezer 2 tier, Freezer 3 tier etc. Air conditioned people of Indian railways should be given some basic training with Delhi Metro to know the atmosphere in an AC compartment. Quality of food was also very poor. If this is the state of affairs in the most prestigious trains, less said is better about  other trains.  

Considering the spate of accidents, we should be thankful to Railways for a safe but uncomfortable journey.