Tried out the concept of "connecting" Vande Bharat services for the first time.
Travelled from Mangalore to Mumbai by the Vande Bharat service, making full use of the only section in India with connecting Vande Bharat services currently. Took the 20646 Mangalore Madgaon VB to MAO and from there, took the 22230 Madgaon Mumbai VB.
Both...
more... trains are received on the same platform at Madgaon. However, nobody knows about this and thus people hesitate to travel by this chain thinking that they'll have to change platforms at MAO. Food on both VBs was excellent. Cleanliness was excellent on 20646 but was average on 22230.
Since 20646 runs with poor occupancy on weekdays, the only solution for now is to give 22230/20646 a 16 car rake and combine both services to run as a single MAQ CSMT service. It can complete the journey in 12 hours. If people travel upto MAO by VB, it's no big deal to sit another 3 odd hours till Mangalore. Buses take 20+ hours.
If you want to watch the journey highlights, here you go:
click here