I had an opportunity yesterday to travel by this train from SC to PUNE on a hush hush last minute trip with my mother. I understood that an AC express on this route would share the Duronto rake of SC LTT. Hence the coach condition and upkeep was up to the mark. I was booked in AC 2 tier so as to have a comfortable journey with my senior citizen mother. Looking at the chart the train was half empty in 3AC and almost empty in 2AC/1AC. There were hardly any booking for the 3 2AC berths. Which was a blessing as we could have full privacy and comfort. However, as specials have a long history of being late I was apprehensive if this train will be run on time. Even though it has a good amount of slack time added (Makes sense as trailing the duronto TT will cause operational...
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issues and may cause delays to this train) the train was bang on time on all stations viz. WADI, SUR, DD, and PUNE. This is a welcome by the SCR/CR controllers where an AC train is being run on TT. Guess others can give a try if timings do not affect your Monday mornings/evenings.