My First Experience with a Duronto Train in life

Dear Friends, as you’ll know that the Duronto Express Trains have been very popular among the people of India since they have been introduced. You can say that they can be hated or loved but they can’t be ignored. These trains introduced by the Indian Railways are Superfast Trains which run between their Source & Destination Stations Non – Stop serving End-to-End passengers. Hence, these trains only consist of Reserved Coaches be it AC or Non – AC or even both. I got the opportunity of traveling by the 12357 Kolkata (KOAA) – Amritsar (ASR) Superfast Express which was announced as a Duronto Train in the 2009 Indian Railway Budget but was later modified to a Normal Superfast just before its inauguration. Since 15^th April, 2013 it has been running by the name of Durgiana Express. I had traveled by this train along with my parents to Punjab from Calcutta (now Kolkata) way back in December, 2012.

Photo of Kolkata (KOAA) - Amritsar(ASR) Superfast Express taken by me (Image Source: Self)

I felt that this Bi – Weekly Superfast Train is a great train in terms of its MPS (Maximum Permissible Speed) and it travels very fast en route. I have taken some videos and photos during my journey by this train and I felt that it is a “Superfast Train” in true sense of the term. The only things it lacked were proper security arrangements, especially the 2^nd AC Coach in which I had traveled and the absence of a Pantry Car. I have stated a detailed Trip Report regarding this train on India Rail Info Site along with a report card. This train has also been inspected by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in the past but I feel that the Indian Railways should pay more attention on this lovely & popular Superfast Train which has only become popular due to its No-Nonsense Schedule and becoming the fastest on the Calcutta – Gaya – Sultanpur – Saharanpur – Amritsar Route.

I can just say that a person should travel along with his or her family by this train to Punjab. An LHB Rake with Pantry Car included is a must have for this train along with it becoming a Tri – Weekly or 4 Days a week train. I have also felt that this train performs best on the Grand Chord Route which spans its stretch between Sitarampur Junction and Mughalsarai Junction via Dhanbad – Gaya – Sasaram. I remember that we had purchased Food for our Dinner from the rail staff which they had picked up from Asansol Junction. By the time we had opened the food for Dinner at around 8:30 PM, the dal’s taste had changed.

Photo of a WAG-9 Loco taken by me from  KOAA - ASR SF Exp at Dum Dum  Jn

On the next day, we had our breakfast at around 8:30 to 8:40 AM which was picked up from Moradabad, where our train was late by an hour and later we had our lunch which was picked up from Saharanpur. The Lunch was very tasty and it seemed that the Staff at Saharanpur Junction’s Base Kitchen is quite good at making food for its passengers.

This is my favorite train on the Calcutta – Amritsar Route and I would recommend to all speed loving Indian Rail Fans that they should travel by it to any place on this route for at least one time in their lives. It has been a great feeling for me to have traveled by a train whose inauguration I had witnessed on TV way back in March, 2010. All of us can just hope for the best for this train in the years to come.

Here is a Playlist of some YouTube Train Videos taken by me

My Introduction to all of you

Hello to all the Members and visitors of my blog site. I am Rohit Kapoor alias railfan86, a Rail Fan from India and also a member of India Rail Info Private Indian Rail related website. My blog will consist of articles related to Train Travel in India. Some of these posts will consist of Trip Reports related to my Train Journeys in India and other posts will be related to various types of Trains and other Railway Know How in India.

Photo of Asansol Jn taken by me from Kolkata - Amritsar Superfast Express (Image Source: Self)

The Background Image which I have used in my blog is the photo taken by me of Asansol Junction Railway Station while I was traveling to Punjab by Kolkata – Amritsar Superfast (Ex Duronto) Express way back in December, 2012. I have launched this blog site to share some interesting information through posts, photos and video links regarding the Indian Railways (IR) on the Internet.

I really hope that all you readers of my blog site will enjoy going through such IR Related Know-How. After all, it’s all about Knowledge Sharing over the Internet so even all of you can forward any Guest Post material to me through Private Post on India Rail Info Site. I will try my best to include suitable and interesting posts on my blog. The articles which I will upload on this blog site of mine will be posted on a weekly or monthly basis as I may not be able to give my blog a full time attention. All Visitors and Members of my blog site are surely welcome for Blog Commenting on my site’s articles.

Photo of a WAG-9 Loco hauled Freight Train taken by me from Howrah - Kalka Mail (Image Source: Self)

 I would also request people over the Internet that please do not attempt to copy and paste my blog site’s material on to their own site sources as Search Engines like Google act hard on content plagiarism and their material may be delisted from their Search Results. I hope that all of you will have a great time with Indian Rail Fanning and my site.