Journey in 12010 Shatabdi!! (BRC to DIC)

 27 May 2013:  I had been to Vadodara (BRC) on 25 May with my family on the occasion of thread ceremony of one of my cousins. We had boarded 12931 AC Double Decker Superfast Express from Mumbai Central. The report of it can be seen here. We spent 2 days there and on 27 May 2013 we were to return back to the city. We were to board 12010 Ahmedabad (ADI) → Mumbai Central (BCT) Shatabdi Express.

                We reached station at quarter to four and confirmed the platform at which my train was going to arrive from the large panel where the information is displayed. we entered the station and started walking towards our coach. I was with my family and hence we were all together 14 people. Due to holiday season we had got seats in 2 different coaches i.e. C4 and C5. My seat was seat no. 4 in coach C5.
             


                  The train arrived at 1605 i.e. 7 minutes before time. The link for the train was BRC WAP 5 #30046! We all went inside and settled everything. The train departed at 1620- 3 minutes late. It passed Ahmedabad Mumbai Passenger. The link for the passenger was BL WCAM 1 #21849. After clearing the turnouts, it accelerated well and passed Vishwamitri. We were given water bottles and the evening snacks by the time we passed Vishwamitri.  We crossed a Bondamunda (BNDM) WAG 7 #28265 led BCNA rake before Vishwamitri. We later crossed ED WAP 4 #22388 led 12656 Navjeevan Express after Itola. Later after Palej, we crossed 12925 Paschim which had GZB WAP 7 #30201 'Navkiran' as link. After Palej, we had an unscheduled halt at Varediya and soon after we accelerated from there we crossed LDH WDM 3A #18472 R led 22451 Bandra - Chandigarh Express.
           
           

                We reached Bharuch (BH) 10 mins late. After a quick halt we left BH and passed over the Mighty Narmada river and the bridge over it. After it we skipped Ankleshwar (AKV) at good speed. We met Indore bound special and Suryanagri Express somewhere in between. Bandra T. - Bhavnagar Special which was with BRC WAP 5 #30058 whizzed past us before Sayan.  12933 Karnavati Express met us after Kosad with BRC WAP 4 #22701.

        
           

   We skipped some small stations in no time and reached Surat where 12931 Mumbai → Ahmedabad AC Double Decker crossed us. BRC WAP 5 #30057 was gracefully pulling it into Surat.  After a 7 mins halt at Surat, we departed.  Soup was served just before Valsad. We went through small and big stations. 12951 Rajdhani Express with its  regular link crossed us after Pardi. In Pardi scrapyard there were many coaches and some 3 WCAM 1s. One of them was 21819.  We were cruising before VAPI when VTA WDM 3A #18610 led Bandra  - Patna weekly Express crossed us.

           
        We reached VAPI 1 minute late ( :P )  and met BZA WAG 7 #28072 with BOXN rake. We departed VAPI and then the BRC WAP 4 #22393 'Airavat' led Bandra T. - Jammutawi Special blasted at MPS! And after it at Umbargam we met  the Krantikari- August Kranti Rajdhani Express. The dinner was served by then and ice cream followed it.The train then covered the Dahanu - Virar stretch quickly and entered the suburban section. We skipped Vasai at MPS but crawled through Naigaon. Again MPS at Bhayandar. We slowly went through Mira Road and finally came to a stop at Dahisar. I took the advantage of it and got down at Dahisar. The train usually stops at Dahisar as it doesn't get entry into Borivali before 9 pm. The train left after a good 4 min halt and thus my journey was ended..

Journey in 12931 Double Decker! (BCT to BRC)

25 May 2013: Ah! The day had finally come when I was going to board 12931 DD to BRC. I was very excited for this journey as tired of everyday 6 hours of class without any holiday. Yes it is my SSC year but a break was needed.. The occasion to travel to BRC was thread ceremony of one of my cousins. I had gone there with my whole family. 2 months ago it was decided by all of us to go to BRC by DD. Hence tickets were booked. 

My seat was in C3 Upper deck and seat no 75ie track side, journey facing window! The journey started from Dahisar. I was going to board the train from BCT and hence took an EMU to BCT. Before that I met Saaluvesh- a MAS rf who had come to Mumbai. We did some spotting there and then I caught 1201 CCG EMU for BCT. The EMU was fairly crowded as it was a Saturday. I crossed 12925 Paschim with its usual link - GZB WAP 7. The EMU crawled till ADH and then again till BA. The run from BA to DDR was speedy but then again from DDR to BCT it crawled at snail's pace. It was 1250 by the time I reached BCT. I was expecting UP DD to reach behind me but it did not. It finally arrived at 1320. The link for 12932 was BRC WAP 5 30049. 
At BCT there was BRC WAP 5 30051 in AMUL livery. It had come with INDB-BCT Duranto Express. There was a WCAM 1, some 5 BRC WAP 4s, 3 BRC WAP 5s and 2 GZB WAP 5s. After a walk all around, I returned to the platform where my DD was and saw my relatives there. We all boarded the train and settled the luggage. After that I walked to the ADI end and saw that even though it was 1400 there was no sign of loco. But 5 mins later it came. BRC WAP 5 30055 was the one. Karnavati had left on time and the rake of 2961 Avantika had taken its place. Finally WAP 5 screamed loud and we pulled out of BCT at 1420. We cleared turn-outs and joined mainline. The train was doing good 70s , 80s and 90s. Soon we reached BVI the first halt of train. There entered a sea of people and choked the movement through coaches. I ran clearing through people and reached my seat before the train left as I had to take video of acceleration. WAP 5 accelerated very good and blasted Dahisar at 100kmph. We soon slowed down at MIRA as it has TSR of 75 and then again gained speed. Blasting through the remaining suburban stations we crossed VR and other stations. The train was going at speed from 120 to 126 in VR-DRD section. I decided to enjoy the feast that was brought after cruising through suburban section. We had slow downs at regular intervals. Th train finally reached VAPI half an hour late. After a 2 mins halt it departed. Crossed many freights and WAP 4 led trains. Crossed KZJ WDM 3A led RJT-CBE Express somewhere after VAPI. I decided to enjoy journey and leave spottings. Soon we reached ST outer. Crossing signal after signal we moved ahead slowly. I saw BRC WAP 5 led DDR-AII behind me. We entered ST 25 mins late and met 12010 Shatabdi there. It was with BRC WAP 5 30048. We left ST and were doing MPS. ST - BH run was quickest of all. Reached BH 10 mins late. Crossed UBL WDP 4B twins led 1.5 hrs late running JU-SBC Exp. We were soon 30 mins late and had reached BRC outer. We got entry into BRC at 2005 and I got down from the train. And thus the journey was ended. 

Over all the coaches were good. The seats had less foam which sometimes resulted in discomfort. The seats reclined very less. The seats on no pantry side were very cramped. Journey was fairly good. Only thing is that due to Karnavati being ahead and slowing down DD at many occasions. I would rate DD coaches 7/10.
Thank you!