Delhi 2 Agra by Rail in 100 minutes
I was pleasantly surprised by my onboard travel experience in Gatiman Express from Hazrat Nizammuddin to Agra two days back.
It all started with my dilemma of choosing Rail over own car for Delhi to Agra trip. I was advised by many that driving down to Agra would be easier in comparison to the inconvenience of traveling by train. Going against the suggestions and advice, I logged on to IRCTC website ( www.irctc.com )and booked to and fro ticket in Gatiman Express. Again my experience with IRCTC website was quite good the payment gateway worked smoothly and was through in 15 minutes with my tickets.
Reaching Nizamuddin station early on a cold morning there was a shiver down the spine. Passing through the security check, I reached the platform and waited patiently. I was early and had to wait for almost an hour before the train arrived on Platform 5. There was no rush and push and getting into the coach was easy.
The inside of the coach was surprisingly clean and neat and very welcoming. Took my seat by the window. The next seat was vacant and I was relived. Waited for the train to lease station which started exactly on time took speed and was flying towards the destination at a smooth and rapid pace.
Soon I was served a bottle of water with a can of fruit juice. I checked the reading materials provided by the Indian railways on board like most of the airlines. There were newspapers and the railway's in-house magazines.
I got interested in the content of the magazine as it was being used as an effective communication tool to inform tourist both domestic and international about various achievements of Indian railways, its initiatives and its growth trajectory. Further, it promoted Indian tourism and highlighted the numerous initiatives that government has taken in the tourism sector where railways has major contribution. It also invited participation from the public though photo contest and other write-ups and was quite engaging.
I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep only to be woken up by a soft polite voice calling me out asking me if I would like breakfast. I was served a non-vegetarian breakfast which was of excellent quality no overcooked and smelly omelets and smelly patty.
The power sockets were convenient to keep charging the laptop while one works. It reached on time and this was my very first experience of travelling on a train in India where the train reached Agra Cantonment right on time covering 188 kms in 100 minutes. On the return journey the train left right on time and onboard was served snacks. The train reached Nizamuddin station in Delhi again right on time. Overall this has been my excellent experience and appreciate the efforts of the railways. This is a great one day trip for all tourists who would like to see Taj Mahal in one day. I think still there is a room for improvement and particularly the toilets could be kept more clean of course public participation is critical were respect for the fellow passenger is very important and only then the condition would improve.
It all started with my dilemma of choosing Rail over own car for Delhi to Agra trip. I was advised by many that driving down to Agra would be easier in comparison to the inconvenience of traveling by train. Going against the suggestions and advice, I logged on to IRCTC website ( www.irctc.com )and booked to and fro ticket in Gatiman Express. Again my experience with IRCTC website was quite good the payment gateway worked smoothly and was through in 15 minutes with my tickets.
Reaching Nizamuddin station early on a cold morning there was a shiver down the spine. Passing through the security check, I reached the platform and waited patiently. I was early and had to wait for almost an hour before the train arrived on Platform 5. There was no rush and push and getting into the coach was easy.
The inside of the coach was surprisingly clean and neat and very welcoming. Took my seat by the window. The next seat was vacant and I was relived. Waited for the train to lease station which started exactly on time took speed and was flying towards the destination at a smooth and rapid pace.
Soon I was served a bottle of water with a can of fruit juice. I checked the reading materials provided by the Indian railways on board like most of the airlines. There were newspapers and the railway's in-house magazines. I got interested in the content of the magazine as it was being used as an effective communication tool to inform tourist both domestic and international about various achievements of Indian railways, its initiatives and its growth trajectory. Further, it promoted Indian tourism and highlighted the numerous initiatives that government has taken in the tourism sector where railways has major contribution. It also invited participation from the public though photo contest and other write-ups and was quite engaging.
I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep only to be woken up by a soft polite voice calling me out asking me if I would like breakfast. I was served a non-vegetarian breakfast which was of excellent quality no overcooked and smelly omelets and smelly patty.
The power sockets were convenient to keep charging the laptop while one works. It reached on time and this was my very first experience of travelling on a train in India where the train reached Agra Cantonment right on time covering 188 kms in 100 minutes. On the return journey the train left right on time and onboard was served snacks. The train reached Nizamuddin station in Delhi again right on time. Overall this has been my excellent experience and appreciate the efforts of the railways. This is a great one day trip for all tourists who would like to see Taj Mahal in one day. I think still there is a room for improvement and particularly the toilets could be kept more clean of course public participation is critical were respect for the fellow passenger is very important and only then the condition would improve.
The Agra Station condition could be still improved as it attracts large foreign tourist footfall every day although the free high-speed WiFi is a welcome change.
Below is the example of the marketing initiatives taken up by the IRCTC to promote the tourism packages using railways as a vehicle.
The other tourism packages available through IRCTC are given below.
In the end Indian Railways and IRCTC all the best continue to delight us !!
Comments
Post a Comment