The today's 30th Dec 2009 >> position of departed / departing spl shatabdis suggest following :-
0985 dn Bandra -Surat Shatabdi spl - departed 10.30 am with availability of AC CC - 678 seats and AC 1st Class -34 seats.
0987 dn Vasai Rd -Surat Shatabdi spl - departing 18.35 hrs on 30.12.2009 with availability of AC CC - 603 seats and AC 1st Class -33 seats.
0988...
more... up Surat-Vasai Rd Shatabdi spl - departed 15.00 hrs on 30.12.2009 with availability of AC CC - 558 seats and AC 1st Class -33 seats.
These spl shatabdis as expected are almost running empty. WR officials are requested to look into this matter of high fare structure and remedy it instead of just putting a curtain of closure on such trains. The train may be converted into Jan Shatabdi type for its heavy success.
The alternative is to cut down the fare to just around Rs. 250/- (just to match it with Mum-Ahd duronto) and the To & Fro trip total collection towards fare would be Rs. 490/-. The total distance for duronto is 491 kms ) and for To-Fro trip for Bandra-Surat-Bandra would be 504 kms.
Fare from Vasai Rd - Surat - Vasai Road covering to & Fro distance is 430 kms (215 kms in each direction) and fare to become fare and reasonable should be around Rs. 225/-.
It is always better to have high occupancy level instead of running the trains empty and incur loss. Low fare would find flavour of the commuting public and will lead to successful regular train services after the experimetnal period is over.