मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर लोग साथ आते गए और कारवाँ बनता गया - Purnesh Upadhyay

after kalipahari, the train again picked up MPS, the ilegal mine area was clearly visible on the side of the up line. durgapur was crossed at 10.43 but the train slowed down after that. after going slow for 5 mins, it again picked up MPS. it reached burdwan at 11.17hrs where it was stopped for 2 mins. then it crawled towards saktigarh. probably an emu was going before it which it later overtook at palla road. saktigarh was crossed at 11.35hrs and palla road at 11.40 hrs. from dhn to burwan, it overtook many trains including howrah new delhi exp etc...after palla road, train picked up tremendous speed again. dankuni was reached at 12.08 hrs.then the train slowed down. as it entered sealdah line, it was stopped at baranagar road for 10 mins and many people got down.it was stopped again after dumdum for 5 mins. souf(mouri) was served and tips...
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were taken.most people gave rs.10.finally it reached sealdah at 13.00 hrs.,35 mins late.

general observations---
1. the train kept very good speed, but was patchy at times. it was stopped at ghaziabad, paharpur, burdwan etc
2.no one is allowed to board at intermediate stations and the attendants and tts are very strict about this.
3. the cleanliness was impressive, i didnt spot a single cockroach in the coach, something quite common in rajs.the interiors of train and...
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bathrooms were wiped from time to time with soap water and insect repellents and freshners were sprayed. in fact this is probably the cleanest train ive seen in IR.
4.there is not that much rush in this train . only 70 passengers in our 3 ac coach. in rajs the number is generally 75-80.a quarter of the people detrained at dhanbad.train arrived @pf.1 of dhn and 9b at sdah, the wb sampark kranti exp was standing ready for departure on pf.9a of sdah as we entered.

a rating of sdah duronto by me considering howrah rajdhani having a benchmark rating of 5 pts in every aspect---
service-5
food quality -5
food quantity-5
overall speed-5.5
cleanliness-6...
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security(of luggage)-5.5( i give this coz my wallet accidentally fell in the corridor in night, i got it in same condition in morning,nd in hwh raj , last time i went, a copassenger's luggage was stolen from under the berth)
punctuality-4
ac (cold)(more the cold, more rating)-6
staff cooperation-4.5

Nice description.
felt like travelling in it.
Definitely will travel once in SDAH - NDLS Duronto.
Though my fav stands HWH RAj but still my experience with HWH -NDLS Duronto was no less than very Good.
My...
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Expreience on HWH Raj (A2 on 26-05-2010)
service-5/5
food quality -5/5
food quantity-5/5
overall speed-5/5
cleanliness-5/5
security(of luggage)-5
punctuality-5/5
AC (cool)-5/5
staff cooperation-5/5.
My Expreience on NDLS HWH Duronto (B3 on 26-03-2011)
service-5/5
food quality -4.5/5
food quantity-4.5/5
overall speed-5/5(I can give 6.5 considering it as a Sleeper Class but maintained excellent timings timings and reached HWH 20 minutes early at 540Am)
cleanliness-4.2/5
security(of luggage)-5
punctuality-5/5(I can give 6.5 considering it as a Sleeper Class but maintained excellent timings timings and reached HWH 20 minutes early at 540Am)
AC (cool)-5/5
staff cooperation-5/5.