BHPian vigsom recently shared this with other enthusiasts: A journey by the Mysuru Chennai Vande Bharat Express that took almost forever Some readers must have read in the news that the Mysuru – Chennai Vande Bharat Express arrived in Chennai 4hrs 46 mins late. I was one of the passengers on board. 1. The journey started fine, with an almost on time departure at Bengaluru, and all was well until the train stopped at a station called Pachur at approx 4:40pm 2. The train tried to move after a couple of mins, but braked hard and almost immediately. This repeated a couple of times. 2. It took about 30 mins for passengers to realise something was wrong and sure enough, the lights went out, came back after a few seconds, and this went on and on. 3. At approx 6:15pm, the train moved and everyone clapped, only to find that it pulled over again at the next station Somanayakanpatti. 4. The same “rebooting” of power off and on was being attempted, and another parallel development was all washrooms were locked as their flushes were not working ( from what I gathered, the pneumatic system was shut and the fault that the train was facing was pressure not developing in the brakes pneumatic system) 5. Meanwhile, we saw Brindavan Exp overtaking us, and after an hour or so, Shatabdi Express too, and two more trains after that. While all this was on, the staff summoned a loco as it was concluded that the Vande Bharat would not be able to move on its own steam, apparently due to the pneumatic fault 6. Long story short, the loco arrived, was coupled, took time for the pneumatic system to operate from the coupled loco, then at approx 8:30pm, the train moved, braked a couple of times for trial, pulled in to Jolarpettai Jn at approx 8:50pm, halted briefly and proceeded. I got off the train onto the platform briefly and almost got locked out as the doors were closing. 7. From 8:55pm, it was a normal run but at a max speed of 100kmph. 8. The train arrived in Chennai Central at 00:06 hrs, approx 4hrs 46 mins behind schedule. A journey that should have taken 4hrs 30mins took twice the time. The good during this episode 1. Passengers were remarkably patient, despite many of their bladders bursting – the AC was on throughout, chilly, while the washrooms were not functional until after Jolarpettai 2. There was a contingent of school students which was returning after an excursion – teachers and students were all patient. None of them complained. I’m not naming the school here but they need to be appreciated for being patient, although their overall noise level could’ve been a little lower.Wishful thinking when a group of 17 year olds is travelling. 3. The on board staff seemed to have done a reasonably good job of coordinating and getting the train going. I wonder where the locos came from. I also think some teams had to go coach to coach to unlock the brakes 4. An unscheduled halt at Perambur to help some passengers disembark at that late hour 5. Despite some passengers demanding the doors be opened to help them pee, that was disallowed, as the train was on the through track and not the loop line What could have been done better 1. No communication to passengers at all – the emergency talk system was used by some passengers but was shut down 2. Cup Noodles was loaded on the train at Katpadi, and I was happy to expect that at least some meal arrangement was made for all passengers and on board staff, only to realise later, that it was only for those who had booked the meal with the ticket from Mysuru, Bengaluru and Katpadi. This was extremely mean. I opine that the meal should have been served to all on board 3. RailMadad was without any madad – they just gave a vague explanation of why the delay had occured. So, while the drive from Bengaluru to Chennai these days takes approx 2 hours longer than, say, 5 years ago, the go-to saviour aka Vande Bharat Express is also no guarantee for fuss free travel. That is my learning from this episode; nine plus hours for the journey! One of the shutdown -restart attempts at Patchur One of the shutdown – restart attempts at Somanayakanpatti Brindavan Express overtaking us at approx 1830hrshttps://youtube.com/shorts/2hpjJu2C-…-uGd4pmEwHRu-o Mysuru Chennai Shatabdi Express overtaking us at approx 1905hrshttps://youtube.com/shorts/wqOE3QEHg…JjKIKKssklbZ_j Two WAG7s pulled Vande Bharat Express to Chennai. Now I know why the speed was restricted to 100kmph which is the max permitted for these locos Cowl removed and loco coupled – rare sight for a Vande Bharat Express Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
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My experience of the Mysuru-Chennai Vande Bharat Express: Pros & Cons
