Indian Railways kickstarted the Udaipur-Agra Vande Bharat Express with an inaugural journey in a special coach for social media influencers. Shashank Gupta, a travel vlogger, was part of this special journey and he took to his X (formerly Twitter) handle to share his review about the meal served on the train. As Shashank compared the meal to a 5-star hotel in “terms of taste” it led to a barrage of negative comments on social media. Here’s what ensued.
Travel Influencer Praises Vande Bharat Express Food
Taking to his X handle, Shashank Gupta shared a picture of the breakfast tray he received on the Vande Bharat Udaipur-Agra journey. The breakfast tray consisted of a vegetable cutlet, poha, aloo sabzi, chapatis, Mother Dairy curd, Haldirams’ Navrattan mixture, Choco-Pie and a ketchup sachet.
Today I traveled in train no -20981 Udaipur Agra Vande Bharat express from Udaipur to Agra and the food in this train was no less than any five star hotel in terms of taste.
Thankyu @RailMinIndia @IRCTCofficial @AshwiniVaishnaw @AshwiniVaishnaw pic.twitter.com/gFOh5QJN4H— Shashank Gupta (@shashan0058641) September 2, 2024
Gupta tagged the official handles of IRCTC and Railways Minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, Ministry of Railways and DRM Lucknow for the journey and the meal. In his caption, he mentioned that he travelled on the Vande Bharat Express train no, 20981 from Udaipur to Agra. He claimed the food served on the train was “no less than a 5-star hotel in terms of taste”.
This post garnered over 47.3k views and 131 comments. Many doubted the authenticity of this review and speculated if he was paid to post positive and “exaggerated” feedback about the food. Some even doubted if he had ever visited a five-star hotel in his life. Others wondered if five-star hotels serve poha, chapati and Navrattan namkeen. Some X users dismissed him as “paid PR” without having sufficient culinary exposure.
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Stands By His Review Comparing It To 5-Star Hotel Food
But Gupta remained undeterred. Despite a stream of negative comments by Netizens disagreeing with him, he defended his stance. The influencer posted that he understood his feedback on Vande Bharat Express’ food sparked a debate. However, he stresses, that his opinion is based on his personal experience. The travel influencer admits that the food may not be of the same standard as that served at a five-star hotel.
The truth behind my Vande Bharat Express Food Review pic.twitter.com/OlSOAgmetm
— Shashank Gupta (@shashan0058641) September 3, 2024
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He assures Netizens that his review was not influenced by external factors. Instead of focusing on trolling and personal attacks, he urged Netizens to share their honest food experiences.
Well, what do you think about the food served on Vande Bharat Express?
Cover Image Courtesy: @shashan0058641/ X
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