Information about Upasana Express

apurba1982

I, with my family members,are going to Uttaranchal on 22nd September 2009 from Howrah by Upasana express.In a 28 hour journey to Haridwar this train does not have any Pantry car . This is worrying me a lot. Does anyone know about the other alternatives regarding the availability of food in this train? There must be two lunch and one dinner time to be spent!!Will running agents/staff from IRCTC from en routed stations will take care of that? Or we will have to take 2 days' food with us ?

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Planning.....

indracal

No - Upasana Exp doesn't have pantry. But it's typical that you would get vendors. If you don't want to take chances, why don't you go for Doon Exp, though it takes about 4/5 hrs more ?

Another (rather expensive) alternative is to travel Delhi via Rajdhani, and then take the 2055 Dehradun Janshatabdi to Haridwar. That way, you're ensured about Rajdhani food, get 4+ hours at NDLS to freshen up and have your lunch and then board the Janshatabdi, which reaches HW at 7:30 PM. It has a pantry as well !

P.S. Did you congratulate me?

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arunganpath

Apurba, there are many long distance trains without pantry. You will have vendors who take orders and ensure that lunch / dinner is supplied. Dont worry.

Bhaswaran

yes..stations like Patna, Mughalsarai, Lucknow are model stations and there are counters in the station to provide you various types of packed food....even chicken fried rice or simple veg meaLS. the vendors will take that food from station and provide you ...taking Rs. 5 extra per packet.

The last thing...dont worry...I will be boarding Upasana next Tuesday, August 11, upto Haridwar and will come back by the same on August 21.....keep contact and I will give you the details of my journey.....I am also a food freak and cannot live without food.

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apurba1982

HI Bhaswaran Da, how was your trip? What about Upasana Express?

vsp27759

Dear Apurba,

There must be two lunch and one dinner time to be spent!!Will running agents/staff from IRCTC from en routed stations will take care of that? Or we will have to take 2 days' food with us ?

##Since 2327 departs from HWH at 12.50 hrs., I am afraid whether Lunch would be served on the day-1.

##If there is no Pantry Car in this train, certainly, arrangements will be made to provide Snacks/Tea/Dinner/Lunch for the passengers.

Bhaswaran

Yes VSP Sir is very much right.

Here goes the train journey.

Aug 11:

Upasana started from Howrah bang on time at 12:50. It is a 14 coach afffair.....starting from the tail from Howrah -

SLR (Guard Van), General Compartment, 3 AC coaches (including AC 2-tier and AC 3-tier), S7, S6, S5, S4, S3, S2, S1, General Compartment, SLR (Guard Van), and then engine (WDM 3A diesel locomotive - 3100 HP)

Cruised up at a moderate speed, passed the carshed and HWH yard area, and then screeched to a halt at Belur for 10 minutes....got green and started picking up speed crossing Bally and into HWH-BWN cord line....slowed down a bit at Dankuni...and after that did constantly above 90-100 kmph upto BWN...crossed at a rather slow pace and again picking up....then ran like hell upto Asansol, reaching bang on time.....

What the train did after this was incredible. It ran at around and above 100 kmph almost all the time constantly and reached all the coming stations at an average of 10-15 minutes before time...resulting in more halting time at those.....Madhupur 10 minutes before time, Jasidih 10 minutes before time, Jajha 10 minutes before time,Kiul, Mokama, and Patna 15 minutes before time.

Staff came all along with snacks and cold drinks, and also took orders for dinner. For dinner, the options are Chicken Fried Rice, Veg Meal, Egg Meal, and even Fish Meal.

After Patna, I slept and woke up at Mughalsarai in the middle of the night......found Howrah Rajdhani and Sealdah Rajdhani resting on the next two platforms....HWH Raj was given clearance to proceed after some time, then we are given the green....and SDAH Raj may be coming later.

At a slow pace, we crossed Ganga and reached Varanasi. The train picked up speed again after this and I went to sleep.

I woke up next morning seeing North Indian rice fields of UP blasting behind in the opposite direction in the setting of a rising sun. The train reached Lucknow again 15 minutes ahead of schedule in the morning.

Only 14 coaches seemed to be a child's play for the formidable WDM 3A engine.

The train started and within minutes, again clocking above 100 kmph, reaching Barielly again 15 minutes before time, where came the lunch....this time only Veg Meal. Reached Moradabad again 15 minutes before time, and after this even after some screeching unscheduled halts at stations like Dhampur and Najibabad, it crossed the sections at Laksar at slow pace to the Dehradun line, and reached Haridwar outer again 15 minutes ahead of time at 15:45........and probably as a punishment for shattering the legacy and tradition of the Indian Railways, it was made to wait for 45 minutes there and allowed entry in to Haridwar at 16:30 (the right time is 16:00 hours).

Overall, an incredible run by Upasana Express.

The train maintained its same pace during my return journey on Aug 20, arriving 10 minutes before time everywhere, and again slowed a but after BWN .....and I was standing at Howrah Platform at 15:15 hours (the right time being 15:00 hours).

So, again another beautiful run.

I strongly felt that this train could be either made a daily with 21 coaches or could be speeded up further. Given a perfect slot, it can reach Haridwar within 24 hours.

You will get snacks, drinks, water, tea, coffee, lunch, dinner all the way....no worry. I vote 10/10 for Upasana Express.

apurba1982

Bhaswaranda,Thanks..thanks...O nly reading after 3-4 lines of your reply I am writing this....Oh!! what a details you have given ...please dont be offline, let me read the rest, really a hidden treasure!!!

n kumar

Hi baswaran,
A fanastic report of the train journey and by the way how did you came to know about the speed of the train.

apurba1982

Really mind blowing!!!A few queries I have. It may sound awkward, but you have given the details in such a manner I may ask almost anything now:-)
1. When and where was the Dinner served?
2. Which class did you travel in? Are the things same for every coach?
3. Did you get the speed by calculating the Kilometers from the posts?
4. And lastly, did you maintain a notebook to writedown all the details only for me?

Please upload photos of your tour.Ofcourse not only of the journey:-)

vsp27759

##If the train covers 1Km. within:_____seconds, then it's speed will be________.

30 seconds.....120Kmph
33 seconds.....110Kmph
36 seconds.....100Kmph
40 seconds......90Kmph
45 seconds......80Kmph
50 seconds......72Kmph
55 seconds......65Kmph
60 seconds......60Kmph

##The only thing is KM-stones alongside the track should be observed, with a stop-watch (or) by watching the movement of "seconds-hand" of your watch. There will be minor variations, but by and large, you can know the speed.

Bhaswaran

Firstly, again thanks for VSP Sir for giving the detailed answer for question No .3.

Dinner was served between Madhupur and Jhajha....even they keep on asking if anyone else needs.

I travel by Sleeper class...I was on S1 in this train.

vegan

It was one of my favorite time pass during my childhood. Moreover, armed with a timetable I knew exactly how far we were from major train stations, surprising my co-passengers.

vsp27759

##Glancing Railway TT is my daily-routine AND performing journeys by train is my life-time hobby. :-)

Bhaswaran

I agree.....railway journeys are one of the most enjoyable and exciting things that I have in my life