Rajdhani from NDLS to HWH and SDAH - feedbacks?

Dear All:

Probably this is very stupid of me, but couldn't resist asking. In the return leg of our planned journey, we plan to travel from Delhi to Kolkata via Rajdhani Exp. probably on a Saturday, so that we reach by Sunday.

I found that there is a nominal difference in fares of the Sealdah (SDAH) Rajdhani and Howrah (HWH) one. HWH RJDH cost is a tad lower, though it reaches faster (see details below).

Train Details / Starts / Reaches /2A /3A /1A
2302 NDLS-HWH RJDH / 5:00 PM / 9:55 AM / 2010.00 /1520.00/ 3365.00
2314 NDLS-SDAH RJDH / 4:30 PM / 10:15 AM / 2030.00 /1535.00 /3395.00

Also, I faintly remember someone speaking about the SDAH Rajdhani being better, though not sure on what aspect, most probably cleanliness.

Could any of you provide a pointer as to what the difference in these two trains can be?

The possibilities I could think of is:

Coaches (may be SDAH one has newer coaches??)
One is run by Eastern Railway, whereas the other by SER (SER coaches are supposed to be cleaner)??
Food quality/Quantity (unlikely - as both would be served by IRCTC)??

Hi,
Both the rajdhanis have new coaches. So cleanliness will not be that different, although I took hwh rajdhani only because of less travelling time. The only difference I heard about is that the food in Sealdah rajdhani is little better although I found the food in hwh rajdhani good too!

The Rajdhani trains are priced by the kms traveled. Sealdah is a tiny bit further from Delhi than Howrah (on a different track) so the journey is priced a tiny bit more. It travels 1447 km to Howrah, and 1454 km to Sealdah, so the price schedule is one higher.

I've only traveled once on the Howrah Rajdhani, and that was four years ago, so I can't really comment on the quality.

Thanks folks, guess I'll take the HWH one subject to availability.

BTW, I've also read that the RJDH staffs are nice but they expect tip, and expectation is more as you go up class wise (3AC -> 2AC -> 1AC). Any personal experience about that?

Also, I would have my 2 year kid with me. Do you think getting water boiled would be fine if we go to pantry?

And do they sell packed drinking water as in other regular trains? Hear that RJDH would give you 2 ltr water per person, which is not enough for me.

This is more than a year old. No one answered his questions.

So, Indracal, what did you find out about water and how about tips?

Aloha

I have taken both the Howrah and Sealdah Rajdani trains from Delhi and never had anyone indicate that they wanted a tip, though I did tip our waiter.

They supplied big bottles of water and lots of snacks.

Thanks for your feedback WW! I truly appreciate it.
Water was main concern.

Aloha

Well, good to come back to a thread which I created earlier and thanks to Aloha for that

Yes, I took the HWH Rajdhani and it was an LHB rake (sp?). We traveled in 2AC.

Well, the attendant gave the blankets and pillowes for me and wifey, and we requested if some more pillows can be made available for my kid. He gave 2 more pillows and one more blanket.

While serving food, he served 2 extra portions of fish, 2 extra ice creams and one 500 ml beverage (Pepsi I think) after asking if we wanted more. On asking he said "We will see tomorrow!". I was sort of unnerved, but then I saw some other passengers were also served the same way. That night I gave him Rs.30 as tip. Next day around arrival, they were asking for tips and I paid 70!

Would say not a bad deal at 100/-!

It seems I was plain lucky as the very next day, one of my friends traveled in HWH RJDH from Delhi. They were short of regular food, because the previous coach had a marriage party going, who managed to extract extra food from the attendants! Obviously against good tip I presume!

Didn't try it, we boiled enough water for her food from the friend's place from where we started. However, I saw that the LHB coaches have food heating/cooling areas at one end of it, and they also pickup food from the starting station. But what I heard is that they have A la carte menu for 1AC travelers, so pantry is there. How approachable they are there is a different question altogether! I saw that the attendants took a few flasks to get them boiling water. We had no need, and I would not have given it to them unless I could personally see what they are doing with it, the skeptic in me would not have allowed

Yes, 1 ltr per day of travel. And you can buy more, if you need.

Thank you Indracal for posting your comments. Very helpfull indeed.
I will be taking Sealdah Rajdhani in a week and will give my take on it.

Aloha

I have travelled in both Howrah & Sealdah Rajdhani (both in 1AC & 2AC). In 1AC they give you a wide choice of menu for your dinner. The food of SDAH Rajdhani is definitely better than HWH (which is also not bad). The attendants expect to be tipped at the end of the journey (Between Rs.50/= to Rs.100/=). Frankly speaking the staff of both the trains are very helpful and I had not faced in problems in either trains for the 7-8 times I have travelled in the past 3 years.

ps : (Also the fares have been reduced substantially for both 1AC & 2AC from the fares that were charged around 6-7 years ago).

Thank you Tourist1. Appreciate your taking time to respond.
Aloha