DOJ: 09th May 2024
One Word: Phenomenal. ER Premium Trains are ❤️
Excellent Food, Mind Blowing Mishti Doi (Purchased 12 of them for Home), Courteous Staff. Coaches are somewhat old still have Impeccable Maintenance.
This train truly is the epitome of REAL DEAL.
The...
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kind of train I'd wish LTT Prayagraj Duronto, Shatabdi Trains of Delhi, Vande Bharat Trains could be. Reminded me of the joy I felt when I first traveled in ICF 3A of 12417 Prayagraj Express decades ago
After a Loooong time finally felt like traveling in a Premium Train that too in 2A. I'd definitely go for end to end 1A travel whenever I get time.
Granted Bikaner clearly doesn't deserve this Phenomenal Stuff especially occupancy wise, major boarding from Ratangarh only that too for mostly New Delhi. But Railfanning wise this route is amazing. I could finally open my Tablet after crossing Rewari, before that route is filled with views of Desert.
Good Slack given for crossing with Counterpart and with Prayagraj Bikaner Express.
I took an extra night of Hotel Stay in Bikaner in order to travel in this train next day. The experience was totally worth it.
Enjoyed both Lower Berth for Some time and Side Lower when I got bored 🫡😂

I was at Lucknow NR/NER [both lie next to each other] at 0400 hrs only. Was surprised to see significant nos. of passengers in the seriously early morning service to Kasganj. There was the PPTA bound ICE standing but the main attraction was the orange liveried LJN-DDN VB. I am not personally a fan of this VB since it starts quite early, runs only on 110 kph + 50 kph [post Haridwar] capable route, but due to not so great alternatives, decent pax were waiting for the train to open and board it.

Gomti...
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Express clocked in at 0500 hrs at PF #1 of LKO NR. It has 2 CC and 1 HA coach [3 AC coaches only; basically meant for daily/last minute travellers for in between stations]. I had a window seat and the AC Chair Car had a laid back look. I took a nap between LKO and ON. It properly fills in at CNB with as expected, normal passengers and ahem, "staff".

This "staff" is a curious term. I do know how IR defines it. One guy boarded from LKO NR only and just bumped from seat to seat as passengers rolled in. Police officers only see these 2 coaches out of almost 22. The AC CC once had people standing in vestibules and throughout the standing area of the inside of the coach itself. This, when the TTE was actively checking tickets and apart from the odd pax, hardly said anything to these extra pax. Just start slapping fines on these "staff" and IR will get their money's worth back in no time. It's not like the TTE had anything really to do. He didn't go to 2S coaches [never does; traveled via it]. If a TTE can't manage 3 coaches[out of which one is HA1 where hardly any of these extra passengers dare to go], is he getting paid to do nothing?

Enough of the rant, not that it mattered to me the most, since I didn't have to bother with the aisle seat. I saw stations whisper by and the train stop at multiple points on the way b/w CNB and ETW. The dedicated freight corridor zig zags across your view throughout the time. Even tried footplating once but it was just too hot. Funny thing is the BSB-NDLS VB comes to CNB 1.5 hours AFTER Gomti Express, Overtakes it [it overtook us post Hathras Jn] and reaches an hour BEFORE it. Lots of slack given between Khurja Jn and Ghaziabad. Reached latter 15 minutes before time where as expected, cold drinks were being sold at a markup. The Meerut RRTS [which is only half functional/built upto Duhai as of this writing] train was visible running quite empty. Reached Shivaji Bridge and were stopped for ~5 minutes. I just deboarded there, reached 'Barakhambha Road' metro station [ I think that's the nearest one] and ended a 9+ hour train journey that included a lots of naps.