A ride in country’s first ‘corporate-run’ express

Ajay Banerjee on board Tejas Express

It’s around 3.30 pm on a Wednesday, and unlike a weekend, there is no scramble. Youngsters are clicking selfies — the Tejas express evokes vibes akin to what private airlines did when launched in the early 1990s. The brand-new train is ready for departure from the New Delhi railway station for its 511-km journey to Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Its orange colour theme breaks the monotony of the usual colour schemes visible at railway stations. It is also different from the other premium trains — blue is the colour of Shatabdis, red for Rajdhanis and white for Vande Bharat.

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Launched on October 4, it is the country’s first ‘corporate-run’ train, and not a ‘privately-owned train’ as some sections of the media are reporting. A Railways circular on August 13 said two Tejas train rakes would be given to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Railways. It is a listed entity on the stock market, but not a private company and is mandated to do the e-ticketing of Railways. Some of the staff on the train are on contract or are employed through service providers.

To begin with, the Tejas is a clear upgrade over the Shatabdi — introduced in 1989 — in terms of services, facilities and amenities. The time the Tejas train takes (6.30 hours) between the two stations is just five minutes less than the existing Swarn Shatabdi on the same route.

Facilities, services on offer

Entertainment is offered like modern-day airlines. A free WiFi-based easy two-step login opens up the entertainment options in English and Hindi, viewed over laptops, tablets or hand-held mobiles. Don’t forget to carry your earphones.

The IRCTC team is peppy and its ‘captain’ welcomes the passengers on board. Ticket checking is paperless, the examiner from IRCTC has a hand-held Samsung tab. Another team member collects feedback from passengers, also on a tab.

The clean, plush leather seat with hydraulically-operated lower calf rest opens up at the touch of a lever. Electrically-operated blinds mean no more pulling down the shades over the window. The blinds are embedded between the set of two glass panes in the window and operated from a switch adjacent to each seat. The Railways in its AC coaches had two parallel glass panes, the 1-inch gap between the two panes is used to install the blinds on the Tejas. Hostesses on board speak fluent English and Hindi and do not mind making small talk with a young mother and her toddler — an instant connect.

IRCTC staff click pictures of hostesses serving people for their social media outreach. Though the coaches are of the same design as the Shatabdi, they have automatic closing main doors, making it safer. The doors are operated from elsewhere on the train, making it impossible for anyone to open it from outside or inside.

Small items make the Tejas better: a sachet of hand sanitiser with each serving of tea, snacks, breakfast or dinner is a nice gesture. Juice is the canned variety (means it is better chilled than a tetra pack). Fruit yoghurt, premium line of ice cream and fruit-flavoured lassi — all from milk cooperative Mother Dairy — add to the gastronomic experience. Wider options in coffee powder and tea, besides multiple charging stations and blankets for Executive Class passengers, add to the options.

On the Lucknow-Delhi leg, the train leaves the capital of UP at 6.10 am. A key chain is gifted to passengers and a very welcome wet towel is offered to wipe out any signs of lack of sleep.

What could be done better

The Tejas express can do with better information at entry points of the stations at New Delhi and also Lucknow. The LED display boards at the entry to both the stations did not show the train timing or its platform on October 16 and 17. Even the mobile app-based ‘m.etrain.info’ does not mention the platform number of the Tejas, as it does for other trains.

At a station like New Delhi with 16 platforms, it can be a nightmare for women travelling with small children, elderly or the infirm. Also, on both days, the mandatory policeman asking passengers to identify luggage was missing.

The Railways could have actually gone a step ahead and put a Vande Bharat rake — the fastest in the country — on the route. It would have cut down time by some 80-90 minutes, justifying the cost differential on tickets. The New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat does the 439-km New Delhi-Kanpur section in 4.05 hours. The Tejas express does the same section in five hours.

A ticket on the Tejas is based on dynamic pricing. That means it is a few hundred rupees more than the existing Swarn Shatabdi on the same route. The Delhi-Lucknow ticket for Wednesday, October 16, in the Executive Class (2x2 abreast seating) was Rs 2,450. A similar ticket for Saturday, October 19, was for Rs 2,805. A ticket in AC Chair Car (3x2 abreast seating) was costing Rs 1,755 for the same day.

Correspondingly, the Swarn Shatabdi for Saturday, October 19, was costing Rs 1,855 for the Executive Class. The Anubhuti Class (higher than Executive) was costing Rs 2,175. Both these classes don't have dynamic pricing. The Chair Car was costing Rs 1,165 with dynamic pricing.   

About the luckn0w-new Delhi Tejas

• While passengers on the Rajdhani and Shatabdi can opt out of mandatory catering provided on board and order food from other outlets, passengers on board Tejas don’t have the option. A woman travelling from Lucknow to Delhi on October 17 told the train officials: “Food served should be on par with standards of airlines and one should be able to buy only what one needs on board.”
• The choice of destination was necessitated as the Lucknow-Delhi route did not have a Shatabdi operating in the morning. The Swarna Shatabdi starts from Delhi in the morning and returns to the national capital the same evening. The Tejas does the reverse. It starts from Lucknow in the morning and returns the same evening.