Shatabdi still outruns Gatimaan express in terms of ticket demand for the journey to Taj city

AGRA: India’s fastest train Gatimaan Express is yet to pick up pace as far as ticket booking is concerned. Less than half of Gatimaan tickets have been booked so far for the next week. Shatbadi is still the sought after train by Taj visitors.
As per data retrieved from IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) the queen of speed Gatimaan express which was inaugurated on April 5, is struggling to attract passengers and is only able to fill less than half of its seats.
For a journey from Delhi to Agra, barring April 9 (Saturday-the weekend), majority of the seats in Gatimaan are vacant for entire next week. For instances in chair car there are 471 seats available out of total 624 for April 14 (Thursday), while for Wednesday the seat availability was 519, 472 on April 12 (Tuesday), 487 for Monday and 275 for Sunday.
Similarly, in executive car 91 seats are available for April 11 (Monday), 84 for Tuesday, 85 for Wednesday.
But on the other hand Shatabdi Express which is much cheaper in comparison to Gatimaan and takes 126 minutes to reach Agra from New Delhi even after having a halt for two minutes at Mathura cantt station, have more waiting for tickets for next week.
For instance, in chair car there is 32 GNWL (General Quota Waiting List)/24 WL (Waiting List) for Monday and 71 GNWL/48 WL for Sunday. While for Thursday there are merely 254 seats available out of 1,014 and 424 for Wednesday.
Similarly, for executive class the waiting list is long. Barring Tuesday and Wednesday the rest of the days in the next week have full occupancy.
As per railway, Gatimaan Express chair class ticket price is 750 in comparison to Shatabdi where railway charge Rs 515 and for executive class one has to pay Rs 1500 for Gatimaan and Rs 1010 for Shatabdi.
Gatimaan takes 110 minutes to cover 187.6 km between Hazrat Nizamuddin station to Agra cantt, but initially railway had targeted to cover the New Delhi-Agra stretch in 90 minutes.
A senior railway official told TOI,"It’s too early to comment on the popularity of Gatimaan. The train was launched just a couple of days ago. Moreover, it’s a lean period as far as tourists visiting the Taj Mahal is concerned. Also, There is no vast difference between speed of Shatabdi and Gatimaan, but the latter is far costlier. Apart from Shatabdi Trains like Taj express are well established, cheaper and reach well on time."