This trip is after travelling on 02073 on 02nd March 2021. At last HWH-BBS janShatabdi was LHBfied (12073 used to run with pretty old coaches, equivalent to an Intercity).
Cleanliness: 02974 is cleaner as the rake is maintained at BBS, while 02073 is so-so(due to the 50 minutes it gets to be cleaned on platform no-19). The toilets in CC were wet at HWH, when boarded. The 2S coaches are okay.
Punctuality: Should anything be said about this train? It's late only on exceptional conditions and gets top priority after entering ECoR at...
more... BHC. has ample slack before BBS, so makes up the 5 mins late at CTC, and is right time(or before time) at BBS.
Food: Standard catering by IRCTC. Was dissapointed to see that local vendors were being restricted on this train.
Ticket Availability: Has BLS Quota. Ticket availability in CC has dropped (since no special corresponding to 12277 is running). Tickets in 2S are also sold out fast as no daily special is running on the path of 12841. Book your tickets atleast 15 days in advance(non-rush periods) and 1 month in advance(during rush).
Railfanning: Pretty lackluster as only high profile crossings are YPR-HWH Duronto/AC Express(except Sundays), Dhauli(mostly at DNT) and Neelanchal/Nandankanan.
Safety: Well RPF are there on the platform it stops at KGP and BLS.
Overall 02073/74 has deteriorated in comparison to 12073/74. There are more passengers in 2S, often daily passengers in JER-BLS-BHC sector as passenger trains are not running (08003 has useless timings in this sector). Transgenders are boarding this train (they didn't use to board 12073/74). Options for food has decreased and ticket availability is tougher.
Still good for BBS-HWH in morning and HWH-BBS among the options(better than 02087) with awkward timings.