Pathetic state of Bangalore -Delhi Rajdhani Express 12430

Hi Members,

I traveled from Delhi to Bangalore by Rajdhani express departed at saturday 26th of May 2012 and reached bangalore today morning. The train arrived at 8.40pm for 8.50pm departure. We rushed to get into the train and train departed at schedule time of 8.50pm. I was in coach B5. The coaches were pretty old and catering service was pathetic. To add to our woes. the toilets were worst than public toilets. The pipes were leaking in the top and it was showering inside the toilets. There was no cover for western toilets and when we complained to TTE. He told he will get the plumber to fix them. However when asked about filing the written complaint he told he will get back to us and which he never did. The plumber came and put some quick seal and reduced the amount of shower. The dinner was served at 11.15pm and most of passengers were asleep after fighting for dinner with the caterers. They woke up the passengers and served the dinner. however there were no ice creams and sufficient water bottles. Again there was fight between passengers and caterers. We managed this as we were carrying extra bottles.

once this settled down the AC went off and it started getting hotter. All this time the TTE was missing and the AC was fixed in next 2 hours. I woke up in the morning to find there was no water in the wash basins and we were forced to use mineral waters for morning activities. The passengers were tired of fighting and there were no one to help. someone caught hold of plumber again and they fixed it after 1hr saying there was no pressure and so there was no water.

Right through the journey there were shortage of water bottles and every time we had to fight getting the bottles. We were supplied with different brand water bottles. somehow we reached bangalore with all this mess and I decided against traveling in Rajdhani express in future.

You chose the wrong train number to travel.

this is hardly a solace for the traveler. there are 2 trains & either of them runs on a given day, so depending on your day of travel, you are stuck with either. the distance is the same, travel time is same, fare differs by 20 rs (in 3A), so there is no reasonable way to differentiate...

i think approaching the consumer forum as a group of travelers (if possible) is the only suitable solution. whether you get an apology or not, at least you have a fair chance of being compensated for your misery...

Railway is going through a severe fund shortage. They do not even have enough funds to pay off their creditors. I wont go into details, but I would just say that Railways is going the Indian Airlines way. If things are not looked upon sincerely, there is disaster awaiting for the Indian Railways.

this is very true. most of the employees who are in the know are now worried if their pension payouts will actually be honored on retirement...
interestingly, because govt benefits so much from railways (though not financially), they will allow this issue to drag on like IA.

It's true. It's true.

Few days back, I had to travel from point A to point B. I inquired about the bus fare, and it was approx 200 bucks. However, the train fare in unreserved class for the same journey was as low as 70 Bucks. I chose the train, because I could well sleep and complete the journey, instead of sitting upright in a Bus on bumpy roads for almost 12 hours without the facility of Toilets.

Point is, Railway fares need to be increased right away. The overheads have gone up by 2X since the last passenger fare hike which was sometime around 8-9 years back. I do not want to be critical, but Railway has been made a scapegoat by some Political parties.
Goddamn it does not even have the funds to buy essential items for maintenance of tracks Forget about the food on Rajdhani

the point where the fares get ridiculous is when you go to AC segment... case in point - BBS to HWH by private bus costs 290 for non-a/c & 410 for a/c sitting arrangement. on the other hand, jan shatabdi (which is a fair comparison) charges 142 in 2S & 460 in CC. the price difference for a/c & improved bus condition seems reasonable in case of bus & really weird in case of train.
funny part is that even at these prices, CC has a perennial waitlist & one would think IR would like to increase AC coaches to improve its finances (as it primarily subsidizes the other classes), but alas, financials does not seem to be a concern!!!

You probably didn't get what I was trying to say. The other pair of Rajdhanis is already running with LHB. The pair in which OP traveled is awaiting its LHB Rakes after which it should have a change in its number and zone.

Thanks for the clarification!
I understand you are also an admin in IRI as well. Would it be possible to add the LHB or non-LHB info in the 'Rake/Coach Composition' section for the benefit of users?

Not many trains have LHB. Hence it would be prudent to mark those only which are running with LHB.
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For the above, you would find the same in the respective train page or against the Forum section of those trains.
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In any case as Steven Sir has remarked in another thread that noting down such details for example "A-B Express"; people (mostly foreigners) would not be able to understand the importance or technicality behind the same.