I boarded this train thinking that it is a super fast from Lucknow to Delhi. I could not get a confirmed ticket. So I bought a general class ticket and hopped on the train thinking that I can get a seat once I board by paying the difference amount. I got in the train at Lucknow. The train was pretty empty till Kanpur. I got a seat till Kanpur. The ticket checker never showed up till this point.( ticket checker was never there on board as I never saw him till the train reached Delhi) At Kanpur, the train got so full that there was no space to even sit on the floor or stand comfortably. There were more people with unreserved ticket than there were with reserved tickets. Initially I thought I would be in minority as I don't have reserved ticket. But I was proved wrong. Expecting the...
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crowd in the train to stay for nearby station as they looked mostly locals I was standing For sometime. It happened so that the crowd remained the same even after the following stations. There were times where people getting on the train were more than the ones getting off it. I wonder what would have been the condition of General class if reserved class was like this. There was literally no space to move around.
I came all the way standing from Kanpur to New Delhi. There was no space to even sit on the floor of the train. It was like travelling in inhuman conditions. There were old people suffering, there were people sitting in the toilet. On top of this the train got delayed by two hours.
In the summer with UP burning this was the worst train journey ever. The surprising this is, not just my coach, but the whole train had people 2-3 times exceeding the capacity of the train.
DO NOT TAKE THIS TRAIN IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING WITHOUT A TICKET. YOU WILL NEVER GET A SEAt.
Maybe booking AC CHair car is the only option if one wants to travel peacefully. I mostly travel in sleeper, and make a point of not booking AC until there is no other option, this train ride has been a nightmare. I've travelled quite a few times in General coaches too, but this was worst than that. This was the condition of a reserved coach. TT never came! I could have done this journey without any ticket.

The seats of double decker are not very comfortable. Luggage space is poor in case of upper and lower decks . Same holds true for legroom. The coach feels cramped up and suffocating in case all seats are booked (rare , but have unfortunately experienced the scenario). A normal LHB Chair Car is much better .
The rake is a mix of Uday and double decker livery coaches . The windows on the lower deck in old DD coaches were full of scratches. Food trays were loose and dirty .
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basic cleaning is done at SBC , the rakes are in dire need of maintainance .
Keep this train as a last resort to travel on SBC-MAS Section .

This train has a good food service from Pantry Car, which you can trust. Although prices are on a bit higher side than standard IRCTC meals.
Pic 1: Veg meal thali ₹.130 (Day 1 lunch served after Igatpuri)
Pic 2: Veg Chowmin ₹.50 (Day 1 evening snacks)
Pic 3: Non-Veg Chicken meal thali ₹.150 (Day 1 served after Khandwa)
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4: Non-Veg Egg meal thali ₹.140 (Day 2 served after Buxar)

Apart these there are umpteen number of snacks prepared & sold like samosas, bread cutlet, egg pakoda, aloo vada, omlette, soups, tea, coffee, etc

Food is good in taste & quantity, which is lot better than catering services offered by IRCTC over so called premium trains

Travelled yesterday in 12365 (UP) JS and 22350 (Down) VB; both require an instant speed up due to early arrivals at the majority of the stops.
Beautiful Ghat portions make VB paisa vasool, however missed the view while Tilaiya Dam Reservoir crossing due to dark.

Also #admin, please update mps between Gaya-Patna lines to110 kmph if not
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done yet.