By the time the Farakka Express from Delhi to Bengal's Malda chugged out of the Lucknow station this afternoon, it was eight hours late.
The 16-hour journey didn't look appealing to homemaker Sapna Roy and her family, including her 19-year-old son Rahul. Travelling by the sleeper coach, the Roys had waited since 7 am this morning, 20 minutes before their train was to leave. To an exasperated Rahul, a college student, the bullet train project sounded like science fiction.
"The bullet train is a good concept but how about investing some money into maintaining punctuality on these trains? I waited for this train to leave since 7 am... It's 3 pm now. It is a terrible waste of my time. When will that change," Rahul questioned.