The first sleeper in India's semi-high-speed Vande Bharat fleet is drawing crowds, selfies and intense curiosity – but what is it actually like on board?
印度半高速 Vande Bharat 车队中的首列卧铺列车吸引了人群、自拍和强烈好奇心——但实际乘坐体验究竟如何？
Lightning flashed above Kolkata's Howrah Junction station as rain lashed platform six.
闪电划过加尔各答豪拉枢纽站上空，雨水猛烈抽打着六号站台。
The waiting passengers barely seemed to notice, however, as they jostled and angled their phones to get selfies next to the sleek orange, black and grey nose of Indian Railways' newest object of fascination: the Vande Bharat Express sleeper train.
然而，候车的乘客似乎几乎没有注意到这一切，他们互相挤着、调整手机角度，只为在印度铁路最新令人着迷的对象——橙、黑、灰三色流线型车头的“礼赞印度”特快卧铺列车旁自拍。
Launched in January 2026, this is the first sleeper in the Vande Bharat semi-high-speed fleet, a train series that has become a point of national pride since services began in 2019.
这趟列车于2026年1月推出，是“礼赞印度”半高速列车系列中的首趟卧铺列车；该系列自2019年开行以来，已成为印度民族自豪感的一个象征。
Clips of the sleeper's first journeys quickly went viral – and when I visited Kolkata, three months later, the excitement had hardly dimmed, with the train's 823 berths still selling out weeks in advance.
这列卧铺车首次运行的视频片段很快走红；三个月后我到访加尔各答时，兴奋感几乎没有消退，这列车的 823 个铺位仍提前数周售罄。
Vande Bharat means "Salute to India" in Sanskrit.
“Vande Bharat”在梵语中的意思是“向印度致敬”。
Designed and built in India, the fleet has been promoted as a cleaner, more modern upgrade from the country's older long-distance stock, featuring aerodynamic noses, sliding automatic doors and comfortable interiors.
这批列车在印度设计和制造，被宣传为对该国老旧长途列车的一次更清洁、更现代的升级，配有空气动力学车头、滑动自动门和舒适的内饰。
The Times of India called the sleeper carriages "stunning" and "swanky" – words not usually associated with Indian long-distance trains – and Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged many of the Vande Bharat trains off in-person, stoking public intrigue and helping turn them into a symbol of Indian ambition.
《印度时报》称这些卧铺车厢“惊艳”“时髦”——这些词通常不会与印度长途列车联系在一起——而总理纳伦德拉·莫迪亲自为多趟“礼赞印度”列车挥旗发车，激发了公众兴趣，也帮助它们成为印度雄心的象征。
The new sleeper service runs six times a week in each direction between Kolkata in West Bengal and Guwahati in Assam, a 14-hour trip (down from up to 18 hours on older trains).
新的卧铺服务每周在西孟加拉邦加尔各答和阿萨姆邦古瓦哈提之间双向各运行六次，全程 14 小时（旧列车最多需 18 小时）。
With India's average monthly wage around 21,000 rupees (£165), even the cheapest fare is beyond the reach of many.
鉴于印度平均月薪约为21000卢比（165英镑），即使是最便宜的票价也超出了许多人的承受范围。
This means the sleeper train is largely aimed at business travellers, offering a more comfortable alternative to flying between two major commerce centres.
这意味着这趟卧铺列车主要面向商务旅客，为在两个主要商业中心之间往返的人提供一种比乘飞机更舒适的选择。
But the route also has wider appeal.
但这条线路也具有更广泛的吸引力。
Guwahati is home to the hilltop Kamakhya Temple, one of India's most important Hindu pilgrimage sites.
古瓦哈提坐落着山顶上的 Kamakhya 寺，这是印度最重要的印度教朝圣地之一。
And for travellers, the train stops at New Jalpaiguri Junction, a gateway to Darjeeling's famous tea fields.
对旅行者来说，这趟列车还停靠新贾尔派古里枢纽站，那里是通往大吉岭著名茶园的门户。
From Guwahati, visitors can continue to Shillong, a waterfall-dotted hill station known as the "Scotland of the East", as well as Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, where jeep safaris offer the chance to see one-horned rhinos.
从古瓦哈提出发，游客可以继续前往西隆，这座点缀着瀑布的山城被称为“东方苏格兰”；也可以前往波比托拉野生动物保护区，在那里乘吉普车游猎有机会看到独角犀牛。
Enticed by the route – and by the chance to experience this much-hyped new era of Indian sleeper train travel – I decided to try it out.
受这条线路以及体验印度卧铺列车备受关注的新时代这一机会吸引，我决定亲自试一试。
After boarding at Howrah Junction, I was relieved to find my berth looked as clean and orderly as the footage from the Prime Minister's inspection had suggested.
在豪拉枢纽站上车后，我松了一口气，因为我发现自己的铺位看起来和总理视察视频中显示的一样干净整洁。
I had a plug socket, a reading light, USB and USB-C charging points, plus clean sheets, a blanket and pillow.
我的铺位配有插座、阅读灯、USB和USB-C充电口，还有干净的床单、毯子和枕头。
I happily walked around the carriage in socks: a move that would have felt grimily unthinkable on some older Indian sleeper trains I had ridden.
我很开心地穿着袜子在车厢里走来走去：在我曾乘坐过的一些老式印度卧铺列车上，这种举动会因为太脏而难以想象。
At 18:20 the train pulled out exactly on time.
18点20分，列车准时开出。
I shook hands with my closest bunk neighbour, a recently retired Indian Railways inspector in a smart purple shirt.
我和离我最近的铺位邻座握了手，他是一名刚退休的印度铁路检查员，穿着一件漂亮的紫色衬衫。
He told me he was riding "just to get a new experience… this is the new train.
他告诉我，他乘车“只是为了获得一种新体验……这是新列车。
Lots of new things are here".
这里有很多新东西。”
He tore open the brown paper holding his assigned bedsheets and photographed the North Frontier Railways' logo woven into the sheet's floral pattern.
他撕开包着分配给他的床单的棕色包装纸，拍下织在床单花卉图案中的东北边境铁路标志。
Around us, passengers settled in quietly with the low hum of the train as a constant backdrop.
在我们周围，乘客们安静地安顿下来，列车低沉的嗡嗡声始终作为背景声。
Indian sleeper trains have long inspired equal measures of affection and dread: symbols of adventurous slow travel but also of chaotic carriages and daunting washrooms.
印度卧铺列车长期以来既让人喜爱，也让人畏惧：它们象征着充满冒险感的慢旅行，也象征着混乱的车厢和令人望而生畏的洗手间。
After the Vande Bharat sleeper launched, an Indian Railways staffer's post warning passengers to ride it only "if you have learnt your toilet manners" sparked debate; while a video showing rubbish strewn across a carriage caused widespread dismay online.
Vande Bharat 卧铺列车开行后，印度铁路一名工作人员发帖警告乘客，只有“学会了如厕礼仪”才乘坐，这引发了争论；与此同时，一段显示车厢内垃圾散落的视频也在网上引起普遍失望。
On my journey, the chrome toilets (both Western and squat-style) stayed shiny throughout, and staff seemed acutely aware of the online discussions.
在我的旅途中，镀铬厕所，无论是西式还是蹲式，都始终保持光亮，工作人员似乎也非常清楚网上的讨论。
Soon after departure, a cleaner carrying a cordless vacuum wandered past my berth in search of the evening's first specks of dust.
发车后不久，一名清洁工拿着无绳吸尘器从我的铺位旁走过，寻找当晚最早出现的几粒灰尘。
He introduced himself as Raju Nath, then invited me to tour his "favourite washroom".
他介绍自己叫 Raju Nath，然后邀请我参观他“最喜欢的洗手间”。
Smiling broadly, he gestured to the pristine, Western-style toilet and the neatly hanging shower curtain, then pressed a plastic dispenser that released a cloud of flowery scent.
他咧嘴笑着，指向一尘不染的西式马桶和整齐垂挂的浴帘，然后按下一个塑料喷香器，喷出一团花香。
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Nearby, another staff member in a face mask carefully poured cups of chai.
附近，另一名戴口罩的工作人员小心地倒着一杯杯奶茶。
With a top speed of 180km/h (112mph), Vande Bharat trains are trumpeted as examples of Indian innovation and ambition, but on board, pride seemed to lie just as much in these small acts of order and care.
Vande Bharat 列车最高时速达 180 公里（112 英里），被宣传为印度创新与雄心的例证，但在车厢里，自豪感似乎同样体现在这些小小的秩序与照料之举上。
"Nice and clean train," Nath said, pointing to the stitched logo on his neon-yellow waistcoat: a smiling janitor holding a broom and bucket.
“漂亮又干净的列车，”纳特说着，指向他荧光黄背心上缝着的标志：一个微笑的清洁工手拿扫帚和水桶。
It was also noticeably quieter and smoother than other Indian sleeper trains I had taken, without the loud clunks and jolts that had soundtracked my previous journeys.
它也明显比我乘坐过的其他印度卧铺列车更安静、更平稳，没有那些曾为我以往旅途伴奏般的巨大哐当声和颠簸。
The government has described the trains as a "new phase in India's premium passenger rail services", linking them to its broader ambition for India to officially become a developed nation by 2047.
政府把这些列车称为“印度高端客运铁路服务的新阶段”，并将其与印度到 2047 年正式成为发达国家的更广泛雄心联系起来。
The goal is to have 800 Vande Bharat trainsets operational by 2030, rising to 4,500 by 2047.
目标是到2030年让800组“礼赞印度”列车投入运营，到2047年增至4500组。
My ticket included dinner delivered to my berth: pots of chicken curry, dal, rice, potato and broccoli, flatbread and a milk sweet.
我的车票包含送到铺位的晚餐：几小盒鸡肉咖喱、扁豆汤、米饭、土豆和西兰花，还有薄饼和一份奶制甜点。
It was a knee-balanced version of Assamese thali, the multi-dish meal native to the train's destination; tasty, if lukewarm.
这是一份放在膝上端稳的阿萨姆塔利餐——这种多菜式套餐源自列车目的地；味道不错，只是有点温。
Sleep proved difficult when I first went horizontal, though not due to berth design.
我刚躺下时发现很难入睡，不过这并不是铺位设计的问题。
The real enemies were my carriage-mates'' phones, which pinged well into the night.
真正的敌人是同车乘客的手机，它们一直叮叮作响到深夜。
By 02:00, the text message cascade finally subsided, and I drifted off to the low, airplane-cabin-like burr of smooth new wheels on tracks.
到凌晨2点，接连不断的短信声终于平息，我伴着新车轮在铁轨上平稳滚动、如飞机客舱般低沉的嗡嗡声睡去。
At 1.
在 1 点。
9m (6ft 2in) tall, I usually sleep on trains with my knees slightly bent, but here I could stretch out without worrying that my feet would be clipped by passing passengers.
我身高1.9米（6英尺2英寸），通常在火车上睡觉时膝盖要微微弯曲，但在这里我可以伸展开来，不用担心脚会被路过的乘客碰到。
By 06:30 I was sitting on a lower berth, chai in hand, watching concrete farmhouses with corrugated iron roofs, sodden rice paddies and the occasional lone cow slide past under an overcast sky.
到早上6点半，我坐在下铺，手里拿着奶茶，看着阴天之下，波纹铁皮屋顶的混凝土农舍、浸湿的稻田和偶尔出现的孤零零的牛从窗外滑过。
Our train arrived in Guwahati at 08:20, bang on time.
我们的列车在8点20分抵达古瓦哈提，完全准点。
Before leaving the city in search of rhinos and misty hills, I met up with Guwahati-based vlogger Anushia Sharma, whose Instagram reel about her experience on the Vande Bharat sleeper train had helped fuel the hype.
在离开这座城市去寻找犀牛和雾气笼罩的山丘之前，我见了住在古瓦哈提的视频博主阿努希娅·夏尔马，她在Instagram上发布的关于乘坐“礼赞印度”卧铺列车体验的短视频助推了这股热潮。
"I really liked the train," Sharma said.
“我真的很喜欢这趟列车，”夏尔马说。
"I could see people actually taking care of the things.
“我能看到人们确实在爱护这些设施。
Maybe because it was a little more expensive than the normal train… they were like, 'OK, we need to keep it clean'."
“也许因为它比普通列车贵一点……他们就会想：‘好吧，我们得保持它干净。’”
I liked the train too, partly because the smooth ride made sleep possible, but mostly for the same reasons: it felt carefully looked after.
我也喜欢这趟列车，部分原因是平稳的乘坐体验让我能够入睡，但主要还是出于同样的理由：它给人的感觉是被精心维护着。
Its sleeper carriages aren't drastically different in layout to older Indian train designs, but cleanliness changes the experience.
它的卧铺车厢在布局上与旧式印度列车设计并没有截然不同，但清洁程度改变了体验。
After we discussed the rubbish-strewn carriage video that went viral, I asked Sharma if she was keen to ride the train again.
我们谈到那段车厢遍地垃圾并走红的视频后，我问夏尔马是否还愿意再乘坐这趟列车。
"Everything was neat [on my train], but I want to go and see exactly how it will be after six months," she said.
“我坐的那趟车一切都很整洁，但我想去看看六个月后它到底会变成什么样，”她说。
"The government has done a great job in making this train and giving this service, but now it's up to the public, and how they maintain it."
“政府在打造这列车、提供这项服务方面做得很好，但现在要看公众，以及他们如何维护它。”
I thought of Raju Nath and how I hoped that he'd still be proudly showing off his favourite carriage washroom in a few months' time.
我想起拉朱·纳特，也希望几个月后他仍会自豪地向人展示他最喜欢的车厢洗手间。
The real test may not be whether India can build a premium sleeper train, but whether it can keep one feeling new.
真正的考验或许不在于印度能否造出一列高端卧铺列车，而在于能否让它一直保持崭新的感觉。
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