कोशी का प्रवेश द्वार — मानसी जं० - Prabhat Sharan

Last week travelled from DURG to Mumbai (Ticket upgraded from waitlisted SL to confirmed 3A). Loco was SRC P4.
Very good journey. OBHS really serious about their job. Charging points 4 in each bay and one in side berth. Train has fabulous priority all along till it reaches KYN where it spends almost half an hour to get to the PF. Food smelled great and was tempting, but was carrying lunch with me and home made dinner delivered at NGP. Since it was off season period, not many waitlisted/unreserved pax in even SL. UR were comfortable, not overcrowded. But whatever pax in SL/3A, will never give up dirty habits like throwing used paper cups and empty snacks pouches below seats, washing plates...
more...

and tiffin boxes leaving waste in the basin (There are dustbins just below the wash basin, why not dump it there???) Same case about toilets -- pax don't bother to flush after use, and some were so bad that they left doors open after use! Yuks! I suppose OBHS needs to clean up after every 2-3 hours -- something like they do in multiplexes where they clean up after every show. Bedrolls were kept on the seat right before boarding. Bedsheets and pillow covers looked freshly washed and pressed. but some pax will never give up habits of stashing extra bedsheet and pillows. This time the attendant caught the culprits (probably experienced by this behaviour) and provided them to the needy. TTEs did show up till BSL. After that none -- only halts are IGP and KYN.
NGP, BSL and KYN need some urgent thinking. This train wasted total 1.5 hours waiting for PF at these 3 stations. Fault? reached early!!! :D Reached BD before time, too, by a massive 25 mins! But KYN made this train late! The LHB rakes are great help, but it trails 12130 (ICF rake 24 coacher with P7) right up to MMR, else it could have caught up with 12810 mail.
Overall could give the Super Deluxe experience if the OBHS contract is upgraded to service the rake every 3 hours barring the night time.
Compared to the 12869 journey from CSMT-DURG a week earlier, this train looked to be in more safer hands. In 12869, taps and water jets in western toilets were missing. So were tumblers and hand wash bottles. Result? foul smelling coaches, no water after a couple of hours of filling. And no dearth of dirty people on this train, too. But thanks to LHB and a P7, this train arrived before time at all stations except DR and KYN. At NGP, it was before time by 30 mins. and yet admitted on PF 4. At Durg, too, it arrived 25 mins. before time.