Positive & Negative Thoughts of Passengers Who Boarded the Inaugural Vande Bharat Express
Mangaluru: On Saturday 30 December 2023, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually flagged off the Vande Bharat Express train over an hour late, connecting Mangaluru Central Railway Station and Madgaon Junction, passengers celebrated the launch of this train that linked the port city of Mangaluru with Madgaon, the commercial capital of Goa. First of all, the inaugural VB Express which was scheduled to flag off at 11 am by PM Modi, due to the PM’s ignorance of taking part in the Road Show in Ayodhya, delayed the flag off by over an hour, where the train was flagged off by him at 12:15 pm.
PM Modi, instead of keeping the scheduled time of flag off at 11 am, He made a scheduled Road Show in Ayodhya his priority, thereby making the guests wait at the five places of flag off in other states. The lucky passengers here were happy to board the Vande Bharat Express, free of cost, but were fumed for making them wait over an hour by PM Modi since he was busy enjoying his road show. Oh well!, we all know the Indian Standard Time of our politicians, who never keep their fixed time for an event. Bah humbug!
The train was flagged off along with five other VB express trains, including one from Coimbatore Junction in Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru Cantonment, and two Amrit Bharat trains, including one from Malda in West Bengal to SMVT-Bengaluru. All the eight coaches of the Vande Bharat Express to Madgaon were filled with passengers on the inaugural run. Most of the passengers were issued souvenir tickets. Passengers, who included several elected representatives and officials, boarded the train at 10.30 a.m. Soon thereafter, the doors of the coaches were closed, and passengers waited for the Prime Minister to flag off the train. A good number of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists travelled in the train to Madgaon, including Mangaluru city MLAs D. Vedavyasa Kamath and Y. Bharath Shetty, Dakshina Kannada Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel, and BJP MLC Pratap Simha Nayak.
Because of the delayed departure, some passengers deboarded at Mangaluru Central Railway Station. Several passengers travelled in the VB Express to Udupi. As per the timetable confirmed by the Railways, train No. 20646 Mangaluru Central-Madgaon Vande Bharat Express starting 31 December (Today) left Mangaluru Central at 8:30 am to reach Madgaon at 1:15 pm. It will reach Udupi at (9:48 am/9:50 am) and Karwar (12.08 pm/ 12:10 pm). On the return journey, train No. 20645 Madgaon-Mangalore Central Vande Bharat Express will leave Madgaon at 6:10 pm to reach Mangaluru Central railway station at 10:45 pm. It will reach Udupi at 9:12 pm/9:14 pm and Karwar at 6:55 pm / 6:57 pm. Vande Bharat rake of eight coaches will not operate on Thursdays.
During the virtual inauguration of six Vande Bharat trains by the Prime Minister from Ayodhya, the event was live-streamed by the executive coaches of the train. Before the train’s official departure, a stage function took place at the premises of Mangaluru Central Railway Station. Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath and DRM Arun Kumar Chaturvedi were present. Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Ms Shanthi M S Pooja Shetty, a passenger on the Vande Bharat Express train, spoke about the transformative experience it offered, with its expansive windows providing breathtaking views. “The travel experience was equal to being on board a flight. While I have taken numerous trips on express trains along this route before, the journey in a Vande Bharat Express train stands out due to its sophisticated features and cleanliness. I am now considering planning a family trip on the train,” she expressed.
Another passenger, Ramesh Bopaiah from Madikeri, said, “I did not find much difference between a flight and Vande Bharat Express train in terms of amenities. The journey provided me with a delightful experience, complete with delicious food from the catering service,” he said and urged the Railways to consider introducing more trains on this route and other routes in the region. On the coaches, the passengers cheered by shouting, “Bharat Mata ki jai and Modi, Modi”. Many passengers said that stoppages at Udupi and Karwar would be a boon for those intending to visit pilgrimage centres and popular tourist destinations along the route.
Delivered through indigenous production under Atma Nirbhar Bharat, the train offers better ride comfort and faster acceleration at 160kmph. The train has Kavach compatibility to prevent the collision of trains. The ergonomic reclining seats in chair cars, superior interiors, fire safety features, CCTV surveillance and the facility to talk to the guard, are the attractive features of the train. From today, Saturday 31 December, train No. 20646 from Mangaluru to Madgaon, and train No. 20645 from Madgaon to Mangaluru will operate on all days, except Thursdays. The trains will take 4 hours 45 minutes to cover 319 km between Mangaluru and Madgaon, saving one hour 10 minutes compared to the Mangaluru CentralMumbai LTT train. The fare between Mangaluru and Madgaon in a chair car is Rs 985 per ticket, and it is Rs 1,955 for an executive chair car. Passengers will have to pay extra for the food they order while booking tickets.
It is learnt that the inaugural train on Saturday was packed with passengers who got a lucky free ride, and were served sumptuous lunch onboard from Mangaluru to Madgaon. However, after departing from Udupi they were not served any evening snacks/drinks, even though there were boxes of snacks kept near the doors, and the pantry staff told the passengers those were not for them. Yet, a few passengers managed to grab some packets from these boxes, while others remained hungry till they alighted at Madgaon. No one could step out of the train in between the stops, since the train doors are automatically locked.
As per a passenger, the train which had reached Madgaon from Mangaluru at 4.30 pm, took a return trip to Mangaluru at 5.10 pm. To the further dismay of guests/passengers, the train manager rudely announced that dinner would not be served either. However, the dinner was served past 9.30 pm after VB Express had left the Udupi train station, where most of the passengers had already alighted at Udupi. Breakfast, snacks, lunch and dinner are part of every Vande Bharat Express service, but something has gone wrong here. Is it because the passengers were free travellers on Souvenir tickets?
Railfans who have often witnessed such inaugural runs were taken on a surprise experience at the treatment meted out to the people on board the VB train. Many who were fumed said that service on board by the staff was poor and staff were not friendly nor courteous- something that the railway authorities should look into, and give these unfriendly staff a thorough training to be more courteous, smiling and people friendly, and not stare be grumpy or cranky. Hope the paid ticket passengers who travelled this morning at 8.30 am from Mangaluru to Madgaon, won’t be treated like those who took a freebie ride on the inaugural Vande Bharat Express.
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