The mighty veteran Purulia Express serving for decades, daily commuters' lifeline and witness to a Rising Bengal! - Soumyadip Mahato

******Trip report for my last trip******
Awaited. Surprising.Enthralling.
This was one of the most looked-forward-to trips of my recent rail expeditions. Basically my perception of this train as something more than a high-on-boosting-low-on-revenue was somewhere behind the reasons for the craze.
Ironical to see that platforms at NZM (as against NDLS) are so free that they can accommodate a vacant rake for some 3 hours....
more...

One CC, six 2S and still 2 EOGs: Long live the LHB technology. C1 was any normal LHB-CC coach. In fact, there was nothing different here than a shatabdi travel. What interested me was how the German technologies moulded our 2S into a masterpiece. Imagine: economy, speed, a li'll comfort too and all facilities you need in the existing fare slot. Excellent. In fact I chose spending some hours in one of the two such abandoned coaches. And for those who intend to travel here, i personally suggest 2S over CC. It gives a better overall feel of rail travel. The only change that can create issues is the presence of only two washrooms for ~100 people to accommodate the oven. You can see how LHB has turned all Indian with bundles of fans. Catering was decent. The not-so-appealing dinner was countered with a decent evening snack combo via a moderate soup. The TT is adjusted to accommodate a VERY LONG loco-reversal time (I've seen reversals in 10-15 minutes, here half of an hour is killed), two halts at RE and FL, a few more random stoppages, and a medium pace. I mean if they shift it to DEE and do away the stoppages, 5.5 is what it can come down to.
Anyways, the rake is brand new (obviously) with stuff like washroom occupancy indicator, automatic flushing and no middle doors (in 2S).
Tickets are checked while your co-pax are busy wondering what a duronto class train is doing for such long time at Patel Nagar (details in my trip diary). The train won't get to a really jaw-dropping speed ever, but maintains a decent run mostly.
Overall it has convenient timings for both the stations. A really nice option barring the NZM logic. Give it a chance. You won't hate it much. At least I didn't.
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Will upload the pics in the next post soon.