The pantry is not functioning as of Apr 2018, but regular vendors come until Bangarpet JN. After that, they do come but less often, it would be advisable to carry your own dinner. Now, coming to the speed, in SWR section it has a smooth ride. Once it crosses over to the SR section, it is given low priority and held aside for every other passing train. This train used to be one of the fastest before but has lost its speed due to changes in the timetable and hence always arrives late in PGT. Another thing I have noticed is the Bio-Toilets, the idea behind is very good, but the planning and maintenance is pathetic. In this train, the Bio-Toilets are always filled up, I have found this issue in others trains too, always filled up. Hence, the toilets stink and is unusable for the later part of the journey,...
more... I hope IR does something about this, at least empty it in destination stations. It is a nightmare to use toilets in IR nowadays.