Kolkata Mumbai Duronto Express. Review on Duronto Express

I had traveled by Duronto Express from Mumbai to Kolkata once in 2011. The train was very new then and I was extremely impressed by the service and was wondering if they will be able to maintain the standards in years to come. Since then I have visited on a number of occasions but all were by flight(because of the time constraints). This year we decided to go to Kolkata during Durga Puja and since we had a big group, we decided why not we try Duronto again. What I had in mind and what I saw was completely different. The train was extremely neat and clean, the toilets were properly clean with all modern amenities, the cabin was well kept and room fresher sprayed. The attendant had already kept all the necessary amenities like bedding, towel, blanket ready for all passengers. The train left the platform exactly on time and within a while we were served with hot and tasty snacks. We were planning our puja itinerary and all of a sudden comes a tray with hot soup, bread sticks and butter. The soup was extremely tasty too. We were enjoying our time and then sharp at around 9 PM they started serving dinner(veg / non-veg). I could see others finding it difficult to manage the heavy eating exercise. I could never imagine that I can get a good night sleep in a train but Duronto has made me believe that you can get a good and a peaceful sleep even in a train. The next morning we were served with hot bed tea and I casually asked the attendant if it is possible to get a news paper. He smiled at me and within the next 20 seconds I had a Times of India for me. The entire day passed just eating and sleeping. The best thing that I liked was there were armed forces constantly roaming within the train which was a big surprise for me. Now everything cannot be so hunky dory. Let me inform a few negatives. The train had major technical halts but no passenger booking was allowed from those stations. To my surprise, now they have made passenger bookings available from those stations too. As a result of this, you can now see hawkers roaming inside the compartments. I think this practice might just impact passenger safety which Duronto is famous for(as it was a non stop train).

I give Duronto 9/10 and will definitely travel in this train again.