Duronto Express: Your experience ...

pnq2012 · Post by **pnq2012** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:06 am

Dear Friends,
Has anyone traveled by Duronto Express? How is the experience? What classes does the train provide? Is it easy to get booking on the train? Also, for a family of four, is it possible to reserve a private booth that has 4 berths? What about the food? Is it of good quality?

Thanks in advance

mkngtrbl · Post by **mkngtrbl** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 12:23 pm

Traveled many times on Duronto. The part that appeals to me most is not having to worry too much about luggage. Since there are very few stops (for loading water, food etc) don't have to keep a constant eye on the bags. You can get a cabin for 4 if you book in first class. Food is good and the service on the routes I have taken is excellent. lavatories are clean. AC-III Tier can be a bit cramped. I prefer to travel in AC-II.

VS007 · Post by **VS007** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 9:32 pm

mkngtrbl;465591Traveled many times on Duronto. The part that appeals to me most is not having to worry too much about luggage. Since there are very few stops (for loading water, food etc) don't have to keep a constant eye on the bags. You can get a cabin for 4 if you book in first class. Food is good and the service on the routes I have taken is excellent. lavatories are clean. AC-III Tier can be a bit cramped. I prefer to travel in AC-II.

The terms clean and good are as per Indian and Indian railway standards.

ashdoc · Post by **ashdoc** » Mon Jul 16, 2012 10:39 pm

yeah , i have travelled several times on duronto express . food is decent by indian railway standards though not as much as rajdhani . bogies are clean and posh by indian railway standards . since the tickets are allowed to be booked from starting to ending station only with no one allowed to book tickets to middle stations or from middle stations , the sale tickets is slow and you can get duronto tickets relatively late .

pnq2012 · Post by **pnq2012** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 4:27 am

mkngtrbl;465591Traveled many times on Duronto. The part that appeals to me most is not having to worry too much about luggage. Since there are very few stops (for loading water, food etc) don't have to keep a constant eye on the bags. You can get a cabin for 4 if you book in first class. Food is good and the service on the routes I have taken is excellent. lavatories are clean. AC-III Tier can be a bit cramped. I prefer to travel in AC-II.

Is the cabin for 4 typically in the AC-II Tier? Is there a cabin for 6 in AC III Tier too?

mkngtrbl · Post by **mkngtrbl** » Tue Jul 17, 2012 10:56 am

There are no cabins in ACII and ACIII.

dbs · Post by **dbs** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:37 am

There are no cabins but a semi private area can be formed for 4 by drawing the curtains in AC-2. AC-3 also has curtains, I think to form a semi-private area for 6 berths.

Chakraan · Post by **Chakraan** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 6:00 am

1st AC (1A) will have cabin that you are looking for.

The First class AC: This is the most expensive class, where the fares are on par with airlines. Bedding is included with the fare in IR. This air conditioned coach is present only on popular routes between metropolitan cities and can carry 18 passengers in ICF coaches whereas accommodates 24 passengers in LHB coach (present in some Rajdhanis, Durontos and AC Expresses). The coaches are carpeted, have sleeping accommodation and have privacy features like personal coupes.

[TABLE="class: toccolours"]
[TR]
[TD]FC[/TD]
[TD]First class: Same as 1AC, without the air conditioning. This class was a Non-AC 2 tier sleeper with 26 berths(3 Coupes of 2 berths and 5 cabins of 4 berths)-The advent of 3A/Ac--three tier class less expensive than the First class rendered lesser patronage to this first Class which initiated complete stop in manufacturing of new coaches of this class-this class is present in very few Express today[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I have not seen Duronto trains but I have pretty good idea about Indian railways.(more on my blog later)

Just wondering do you guys know the meaning of "Duranto" as it a Bengali word given by Mamta Banerjee and she painted the train with colors.

cf_r2i · Post by **cf_r2i** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:30 am

Chakraan;466046
Just wondering do you guys know the meaning of "Duranto" as it a Bengali word given my Mamta Banerjee and she painted the train with colors.

From wiki .. that was my understanding:

Duronto Express ("Rebel" or "rebellious" or "Restless" in a positive way) is a category of long distance trains run by the Indian Railways. The special feature of these trains is that they run non-stop from source to destination, barring technical halts. All Duronto Express trains can be easily recognized by the characteristic yellow-green livery of their passenger coaches. Several Duronto Express services connect the metros and major state capitals of India. The Duronto Express trains are projected to be the fastest trains between the particular pair of cities they serve, although this is not necessarily true for all services.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duronto_Express

pnq2012 · Post by **pnq2012** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:15 pm

The tickets for Duronto Express get booked so fast. The tickets are wait-listed already