Passengers hail speed, comfort and exhaustion-free journey

Mysore/Mysuru: The regular service of Vande Bharat train between Chennai and Mysuru via Bengaluru began yesterday. Prime minister Narendra Modi flagged off the train from Bengaluru on Friday and the inaugural service ran from Bengaluru to Chennai, without touching Mysuru.

This train is India’s first semi high speed train equipped with world-class passenger amenities. Speed, safety and service are the hallmarks of this train manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.

The train entered the Mysuru City Railway Station at 12.20 pm with over 350 passengers. It left the Mysuru Station at 1.05 pm with over 250 passengers. All coaches are equipped with automatic doors, GPS-based audio-visual passenger information system and on-board WiFi hotspot.

S.J. Diwakar, a resident of Vijayanagar Second Stage, who travelled all the way from Chennai to Mysuru just for the experience of it, told Star of Mysore that the train left Chennai at 5.35 am and reached Bengaluru at 10.35 am. It reached Mysuru at 12.20 pm and the journey was pleasant. The seats are comfortable and the train signifies ease of travel, he said.

“As the train is fully air-conditioned and has large windows, the views from inside are good and we have not felt exhaustion even for a bit. I have travelled in many helicopters and aircraft and the Vande Bharat journey is among the best. It has to be experienced,” he added.

Shivashankar of Vidyaranyapuram, who travelled from Bengaluru to Mysuru, said that though the fares are on the higher side, it is justified as the facilities inside the train are world-class. The doors between bogies are automated and based on a sensor system. Even the food supplied inside the coaches were good and the quality was maintained, passengers said.

The train has 14 AC Chair Car coaches each with a capacity to carry 78 passengers while there are 2 Executive Class coaches each with a capacity of carrying 52 passengers. The train will not have a dynamic fare system and will be operated on all days except Wednesdays.

The train will run at average speed of 72-75 kilometres per hour due to speed restrictions and other limitations including curves.