My travel Report on 30 May 2015:
12039 Anand Vihar Shatabdi Express
Boarding: Lalkua
Destination: Anand Vihar
I traveled in this train for the first time on 30 may 2015. The train was hauled...
more... by PRATEEK that day too. First starting with the
Punctuality :the train 2 min late at Lalkua was 5 min late at rampur and 10 min late at Moradabad but 15 min early at Gaziabad and 2 min early at ANVT.
Seating: I traveled in class CC and the CC of ICF shatabdi are very comfortable. But this train is comprised of coached of various layouts. My seat was C4 20, Which was a window seat and in this coach the window seat also had hand rest. While in return journey in 12040 I got C9 55, which was window side according to IRCTC but in real it was a Aisle seat. So the coaches have different layouts.
Food: Food is served by Meals on Wheels. After boarding from LKU, 1 Liter water bottle was provided. Evening snacks were served, which you can see in the pic. One 10rs namkeen packet, 1 Soan Cake, Tea , 1 Sandwich, 1 Packet Ketchup. The taste of sandwich was good and soan cake was very good. At arrival in Moradabad Soup was served. 1 packet bread sticks, 1 Butter, 1 Cup Soup 1 small sachet black salt and 1 small sachet iodized salt. The soup was amazing very good and tasty. At 7:20 Dinner was served. Non Veg Dinner: 1 Dal, 1 Chicken curry, 2 Chapati, 1 Rice bowl, 1 sachet Pickle. Veg Dinner :1 Dal, 1 Paneer Dish, 2 Chapati, 1 Rice bowl, 1 sachet Pickle. Amount was sufficient and the taste was good too. In sweet dish Ice Cream was served. Food is very nice.
Cleanliness: Coaches are clean and even the windows were clean. The train was clean overall.
AC: AC were good. Having Power Car or HOG makes it cool even when standing on platforms.
Ticket Availability: Tickets are not easily available as compared to other Shatabdi's. The train only has GNWL quota from KGM. From haldwani and LKU the Quota is RLWL which means less seats. Also the reservation of Executive chair car is available from KGM only.So if you want to travel from haldwani in ECC book from KGM and change the boarding to HDW.
Railfanning: Railfanning is good as nearly all the journey is traveled in daylight so you can enjoy views of field while passing through villages of Uttrakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Pic 1 and 2: Shatabdi at LKU PF 1
Pic 3 and 19 : View of coach from my seat.
Pic 4 to 9: Evening Snacks
Pic 14 : Tea
Pic 10,11,12,13,15 : Soup
Pic 16: Dinner
Pic 17,18 : Ice Cream
