Yes it used to be the most prefered non premium train in those days.
I still remember in my childhood days it used to arrive all stations before its scheduled time. There used to be a buzz among people that always reach station 10mins before the actual arrival time of poorva. Once in my childhood i travelled in it from Asansol to Tundla. That time it scheduled arrival at Tundla was around 4.30am but during my journey it reached Tundla almost 30mins BT.