Pehli baar vande bharat ke aane ke baad, maine amritsar shatabdi aur swarna shatabdi express mein acchi bhari hui seat occupancy dekhi. Warna, vande bharat ke aane ke baad, dono train ka patronage kam ho gaya tha.

DOJ: November 5th, 2023.
Back after Amritsar Trip. /blog/post/5880554
There's something funny in one of the pictures, let's see if it's found.
Had a blast with 2 seats all the way.
Did some train spotting at Amritsar Junction.
Check out the luggage rack in my Coach E3. They're just rods with gaps, no fancy glass base. A clever fix for the gate too 😂
Only 30% filled from Amritsar, crazy crowds at Beas and Ludhiana Junction as expected. Beas was like a stampede, I even shared a video on Instagram Stories.
A lot of people boarded at Ambala and Jalandhar.
Snacks served right after Amritsar.
Soup served right before Jalandhar and dinner served after Ludhiana.
Decent gap between the soup and dinner.
Dinner was loaded from Amritsar itself, it was piping hot when served, though there were too many coriander seeds in the vegetables. But overall, it was cooked well.
People started boarding.
Plenty of extra time. Reached Ambala and New Delhi ahead of schedule.

DOJ: November 4th, 2023 Family Trip to Amritsar. My dad's seat was in E1 while the other 3 seats were in E3, so I decided to sit alone for some privacy and to do some train spotting. Swarna Shatabdi Express runs on Thursdays. The whole route had good buffer time, even with several slowdowns and a long stop before Karnal. We reached Ambala Cantt Outer at 09:25 AM but had to wait a lot to reach the platform at 09:45. Even before Ludhiana, the train arrived early but still had to wait. My coach was old and had a big gap between the door and the floor. The handrails were inside the gap, which was useless. Looks like this coach is an original imported LHB and has some major design flaws. Breakfast was typical North Railway premium Shatabdi quality - good. Lunch was disappointing - rice were undercooked and the dal was stone cold. They loaded it from Jalandhar and served it right away.

DOJ: 04th November 2023
Amritsar Jaane ka Pariwar wala Trip.
Mere Pita ji ka seat E1 mein tha jabki dusre teen seats E3 mein the, toh akelapan aur train dekhne ke liye maine chaiye apne aap baithne ka decide kiya. Swarna Shatabdi Express Thursday ke din chalti hai.
Sari Route pe achcha time mila, waise bhi bahut bar slowdowns the, aur Karnal ke pehle ek achchi halt hui, 09:25 AM pe Ambala Cantt Outer pahunch gaye - baht zyada traffic ke wajah se 09:45 tak platform pahuchenge. Ludhiana se pehle hi train jaldi pahunch gayi aur traffic ke wajah se wait karna pada.
Mera coach purana tha, darvaaze aur floor ke beech mein achcha gap tha. Holding rods gap ke andar the, bilkul bekar the. Coach mein bahut badi design ki kamiya hai, shayad yeh coach Original Imported LHB hai.
Typical NR Premium Shatabdi Breakfast ka achcha quality tha.
Lunch kharab tha, chawal adhik pak gaye, dal bilkul thanda tha. Jalandhar se load kiya gaya tha aur turant serve kar diya gaya.