Credits & source for the video. The one in the video features Howrah - Anand Vihar Yuva express.

Intro(Long story, TL;DR at bottom)

A lot of unique trains get introduced which gives it a distinct identity as Rajdhani for its prestige, Shatabdi was its faster intercity journey & Duronto for its non-stop service. Yuva express was one of them too.

What tf is Yuva express?

Introduced in the year 2009 along with its sibling Duronto express, Yuva express was a unique concept when it came to affordability.

Introduced by former RM Mamata Banerjee during the rail-budget 2009-2010, Yuva express was started with an ambition to provide cheaper services for unemployed young people & passengers from lower-income groups who could travel between major cities without paying the higher fares commonly associated with air-conditioned long-distance services.

The term "Yuva" means "Youth" & since the target passenger for these trains were youth, hence the name Yuva.

The features:

The defining feature of this fully Air-conditioned train was the Yuva Quota. Initially, 60% of the accommodation was reserved for eligible Yuva(Youth) passengers, with the remaining 40% available to general passengers.

Eligible passengers aged 15-45 could take the benefits of Yuva Quota at specially reduced fares. IIRC, the fare up to 1,500 km was Rs. 299 per person while fare above 1,500 & up to 2,500 was Rs. 399 per person.

Initially, this train consisted of only Chair-car coaches. However, compared to standard ICF Chair-car, Yuva express Chair-car had more seats on any Chair-car train in IR's history with 103 seats(3x3 layout) which was higher than 73 seats of an ICF Chair-car & even higher than LHB/Vande Bharat's Chair-car's 78 seats.

Just like general coaches, Yuva express had 6 doors(3 doors on each side) due to the higher number of seats which means higher frequency of passengers so the additional doors were added for passenger convenience for getting in/out of the train.

The livery of this train was distinct from several other IR trains & it matched the scheme of Duronto a lot since both were started by the same person in the same year.

The total number of Yuva express trains.

The first Yuva train, connecting Howrah and Delhi, commenced service on 30 December 2009. A second service connecting Mumbai and Hazrat Nizamuddin followed in January 2010.

Unlike Duronto express which expanded further in the network of IR despite having its own flaws, only two Yuva express made it to the mainline.

The failures of Yuva express.

Despite the great ambitions & a cheap service for many passengers, Yuva express failed to match the expectations of many people for major reasons.

First was the underused Yuva Quota which was the crucial issue. Initially, 60% of the accommodation was allocated to eligible Yuva passengers. However, many reports stated that occupancy of special quota had fallen below 15%. In response to low demand, the Railways reduced the Yuva Quota from 60% to 20% in 2012, in just 3 years. At the end of 2013, the occupancy was again underused to the point that the Yuva Quota was reduced from 20 to 10%, meaning that 90% of passengers could afford it at normal fares.

The second major issue was the Chair-car seats for long-distance. Had it been like Intercity, it might've been a successful train however, for a train that goes from Delhi to Mumbai or Delhi to Howrah, Chair-car coaches are just nightmare because who could travel end to end by sitting. Many people already show frustration for Pune-Ajni(Nagpur) Vande Bharat being a long distance train with Chair-car seats so the preference for long distance Chair-car ain't a great option unless something like High-speed rail gets introduced which could cut several hours. That's why both Yuva got AC 3-tier coaches to cover up losses.

Another reason for what I could find was the strict eligibility criteria that you must prove you are an unemployed Youth at the age of 18-45 to travel in it & have produce official documents like a National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) card or a State Employment Exchange registration certificate. Plus the Yuva Quota was very niche too which didn't appealed everyone.

Even if it had succeeded, the future problem may have been the cramped Chair-car coaches. As I've mentioned before, it had the highest number of Chair-car seats that a train could ever have. Tho it wasn't the major issue for its failure but it had less room for each passenger than in a conventional layout so just like Garib Rath's infamous Side-middle-Berth, Yuva express could've turned like Garib Rath only if it had succeeded.

The poor occupancy was also the reason why half of the coaches of Yuva express got replaced with conventional ICF premium AC 3-tier coaches.

The fate of these two Yuva express:

The first Yuva express was Howrah - Anand Vihar Yuva express but ironically, it was the first & only Yuva that was cancelled during COVID-19 & IR just never introduced it again. It had RSA with Howrah - Jalpaiguri AC express which also got permanently cancelled too.

The second Yuva express is Bandra - Hazrat Nizamuddin Yuva express which was the second Yuva express, it was the only Yuva express which survived & is still currently active today. During its final days as ICF, it only had a handful of Yuva express livered coaches with very few Red/Duronto coaches but it was heavily diluted with Ut****st coaches. It eventually got converted to LHB coaches with two blue LHB Chair-car coaches & the rest of them are typical red LHB 3-tier coaches which look pretty bizarre in appearance. It still retained the Yuva Quota even after many years.

Conclusion:

Yuva Express was an ambitious attempt to make AC travel affordable for young & lower-income passengers but low occupancy & limited appeal hindered its success.

Even if it had become commercially successful, its cramped seating might still have attracted criticism.

Ultimately, it remains an interesting experiment that struggled to balance affordability, passenger comfort, & demand.

TL;DR:

Introduced in 2009, Yuva Express aimed to make AC travel affordable for unemployed youth & lower-income passengers through specially reduced fares & a dedicated quota. However, low demand for the quota & the limitations of long-distance Chair Car travel hindered its success. Its unusually cramped seating could also have attracted criticism, much like Garib Rath's infamous side-middle berths. Of the two services introduced, Howrah - Anand Vihar was cancelled during the COVID-19 period & was never started again while Bandra Terminus - Hazrat Nizamuddin survived with red LHB(Plus 2 Chair-car LHB) coaches. Ultimately, Yuva Express was an ambitious experiment that struggled to balance affordability, passenger comfort & demand.

Apology for any mistake, have a nice day!

So I am traveling in Mumbai (From Dadar to Thane) and the local train is giving me nostalgia of 90's. I am feeling I am stucked in the fabric of time ^⁠_⁠^

I don’t understand the audacity of some people who occupy the upper berths to sleep in general coaches, refusing to get up and sit even when people are standing right next to them and asking them to get up.

Like, have some basic consideration for others! It’s a general coach, and everyone deserves a place to sit

12002/01 Rani Kamlapati- New Delhi Shatabdi ended at Lalitpur Junction today citing the remodeling work at Bina Junction, the train will return back to New Delhi from Lalitpur itself.

I Was Travelling in 13403 Vananchal Express. The train was running 50 mins late from its scheduled time . The Train arrived at my station , but we didn't get any platform as the Train was too long . I along with my co-passengers were confused and surprised at the same time as it happened to us for the first time . We thought that the train would move again a little bit and we will get down . But to make it more thriller, the train was leaving the station and one of our co-passengers pulled the chain.

After Stopping:

Two RPF officers stopped us. They said some of us should have got down from the train and informed the Guard.

So who should get down in a rocky , uneven ground?

Me , the lady with her 1 year old son or her husband.

Those officers argued and argued at peak 3:40 AM , and they are not making any case because the Guard was merciful enough as he didn't create a memo. At last we faded off and apologized.

Things I learnt today:

Paying the Ticket fare is not enough, we have to take tasks on our shoulders if railways fail.

Arguing with a Khaki uniform is senseless, their ego shines more than their argument.

Guys please comment on this situation.

Should I tweet / file any case ( I don't have any recordings)?

Are we at any fault?

Why do you guys think the loco-pilot flashed the lights?

Why tf do I always get a side lower beside the washroom or the gate ughhhhhh i hate itttt

is railways actually launching vande cardo train?

Following up on my previous post about the digital passenger information display in my 1A AC coach (https://www.reddit.com/r/indianrailways/s/TZaZQKLuFn), I’ve discovered a few more interesting things during this journey that I hadn’t noticed in any of the other 1A coaches I’ve travelled in so far!

🚿 1. A shower room with a geyser — I was surprised to discover a shower facility with a geyser. I hadn't come across this in my previous 1A journeys.

🚪 2. A push-button door — I also found a door that opens at the press of a button. It was another feature I hadn't noticed before.

📶 3. Wi-Fi networks — The digital passenger information display has a Wi-Fi symbol, so I checked the available networks on my phone. I found three networks: GustPIS, PIS2G, and PIS5G. The last two are password-protected. When I asked the attendant about the password, he said he didn't know it.

A few questions for fellow railway enthusiasts:

- Are shower facilities with geysers available in other 1A coaches, or only in certain trains?

- Is the push-button door a standard feature in particular coach types?

- What are the Wi-Fi networks used for, and can passengers access them?

- Are these features being introduced gradually across Indian Railways?

So this happened February of last year. There's a train I booked that leaves Thiruvananthapuram Central right after 6:30 pm ( i guess it's Malabar Express ).

The 3AC berth was neat and have curtains not only on windows but also on the aisle side, and to my surprise, I haven't seen aisle side curtains on any other trains.

Mine was lower SB. I drawn the curtains and went to sleep, as I have a long journey ahead. After 4 or 5 hours, a family boarded from a station, occupied all the nearby berth, including the upper SB. I was awake for a very short time, and went back to sleep.

Suddenly I woke up hearing a loud sound of something falling from above. Turns out it was a person fallen down, that too a lady who aged 40+. For those who can imagine this scenario can understand how much pain and suffering one had to go through after that fall.

Why did this happen?

Because their were no steel guards on side UB, unlike other trains. The trains have this side wise shaking while it travels faster, and with curtains on and no steel guards, anyone is highly likely to fall down, even me. Even I had that tendency even though I slept on lower SB.

I feel very sad and helpless for that poor lady. The pain and suffering she had gone through, that too while sleeping, is nothing less than terrible.

Why do Indian Railways design these coaches with no intuitions in mind? Don't they know that the chances of a person getting injured from falling from such a height will be serious, and a simple guard can fix that.

I still think of it, everytime I travel in 3AC.

A 60+ uncle sleeping LB was playing Facebook on 200% volume 👺. I ignored it for 5 10 min then I asked him politely to lower his volume Im getting disturbed, he ignored than I said again after 5 min he started on me shouting that 'It is public place meant for public will can nothing wrong in it why don't you go to reservation ticket ' ... Note that I was traveling in 3Ac.

He slapped me lightly and I shouted very loudly that my cabin got me attention and I started like fire.. At last I said nowadays civics sense is not common anywhere.. he got triggered and called me ch#tuya and said his son is bigger than me so I can control my self and replied I don't know about me but it seems you are and go and tell you son these all things I'm not ur son here to listen all this things than it goes on for 15 min overall and all in my cabin chilled me and they know I was right but no one is saying anything... In my cabin 4F nd 4M

Any not the very worst experience experience bcz I have more worst memories of travel in train..

What's your thoughts on this.

Edit: Travel in Bihar ( Patna to Saharsa)

I have only travelled by Sleeper class coaches but it is becoming very inconvenient because often many ticketless/general ticket passengers get into these coaches. Sometimes it becomes so bad that we cannot even go up to washroom. I have seem that mostly there are no such passengers in AC coaches but have seen some news reports and posts that show/say that now AC class is also seeing this issue. So I was wondering if AC classes are really better in this regard. And if there are any disadvantages of travelling in AC coaches, other than very high fare in comparison to Sleeper.

As the title explains I tried checking the count of tickets before they open at 8 AM and it only showed 5 tickets,I checked this morning .I mean wtf and how ?

The train originates from that station Guwahati only but how can it be only 5 seats . I have to book at 8 AM Tomorrow morning for 14th Dec and my count is 5 exactly 🥲🥲.

Explored this semi-abandoned yard yesterday.. didn't click much pics.. Although the yard was lit 🔥

Still got side upper with 140+ availability 🥀

Today I was travelling from Chandigarh and the redevelopment project looks promising in terms of modernizing station infrastructure.

As someone who has traveled in trains since 2005, I used to hate visiting stations, especially due to bad smell, lack of cleanliness and hygiene and especially those rusted up platform roofs and foot overbridges which kept us at a hair's length from a tetanus shot.

The work is still in progress and couples of platforms are under constructions. But so far, it looks wonderful, especially during summer season when stations used to feel like a dutch oven.

The entrance to both ends ( PF 1 and PF 6 ) has cool spacious waiting areas.

I've been a critique of railways in some aspects. But, the good work needs to be shown as well.

PS: Also noticed couple of checkers to prevent overcrowding. They were polite and guided me to the appropriate areas as per request.

So I boarded a fast local from my home station and got down at my destination station, i was in ladies class and the moment I got down i felt something on my thighs, that man touched my thighs and tried to come closer and even touched my waist and made weird face expressions.. all this happened within 10 seconds in a crowded local station… i was with a female friend and we quickly started to walk away… I still feel shocked and my friend told me you could not have done anything since “he was drunk” and might have even tried to beat or assault me if I tried to fight w him.. I was wearing a knee length skirt and a non revealing top. I am still a teenager..

I recently noticed this digital display in my 1A AC coach. It shows the train’s speed, date and time, distance to the next station, and announcements such as “Please do not smoke in the train” in both Hindi and English.

It’s a useful feature, especially for tracking the train’s speed and upcoming stations. Although I have travelled in 1A before, I had never noticed such a display.

Are similar displays available in other classes, such as 2A, 3A, 3A Economy, Sleeper, or General/Unreserved coaches? Are they limited to specific trains or coach types, or are they being introduced gradually across Indian Railways?