Kerala by Rajdhani!
The morning of April 18, 2005 was nothing less than special for me. That day, I was to make my first journey on a Rajdhani Express train. Our tickets were booked from Vasai Road to Trivandrum Central with the boarding point at Panvel. The train was scheduled for Departure at 0515. My home is 15 Kms away from the station.
We started our journey to the station at about 0415. The time required is 20 minutes approximately. We reached the station at about 0435. Announcements were being made regarding the departure of the Diva bound 1698 Panvel-Diva Passenger. I decided to have a look at the rake which was on Platform #3. Quickly went to the platform and was surprised to see a ‘KR SWR” rake. This passenger shares its rake with the Sawantwadi-Diva Passenger (KR6). It departed as soon as I reached the platform. The destination boards indicated “Madgaon – Sawantwadi – Diva – Madgaon”. After the passenger left, I returned to Platform #1 where Rajdhani was expected.
The Khalasis, Catering staff and porters usually sleep on the platform. Hence, the station had a very ‘crowded' appearance. There were Two Container rakes on the sidings. One was bound for JNPT while the other appeared to be towards Tuglakhabad. The one towards JNPT left first and other one, a little later. Now, one more Container rake came in and halted at Platform #2. At about 0510, It was announced that Rajdhani would be arriving at Panel only by 0520. A little later, the arrival of 2620 Mangalore – Lokmanya Tilak Matsyagandha Express was announced. Usually, trains towards Diva/Mumbai arrive on Platform #1 and the ones towards KR arrive on Platform #3. Today since Rajdhani was arriving, Matsyagandha was diverted to Platform #3. At about 0512, a light was seen at a very long distance. That was Matsyagandha Express. It Pulled into Platform #3. The rake had three 3As and one 2A making a total of 19 coaches. This train halts at Panvel for 10 minutes to unload umpteen amounts of Parcel.
At around 0517, Rajdhani's Headlamps were visible. The train pulled in to Platform (#1) at 0520. The rake first stopped. As people started alighting, the rake moved a bit forward, so that the loco could be refueled. All locos are refueled at Panvel before they leave towards KR. The loco was Golden Rock's WDP2 #15535. The loco was in Rajdhani livery but the Generator car played spoil-sport. It was in Shatabdhi livery. Our coach was AS2 (15581/A). The coach was the Third from the Loco. There was a group of about 10 to alight at Panvel. Each person had approximately two pieces of luggage in addition to huge cartons. They took about 5-7 minutes to complete their work. The train was crowded and there were many passengers still on RAC. The TTE did not have the charts and that made his work difficult. Our tickets were booked in BSR ( Vasai Road ) Quota. Only around 8 passengers were confirmed in PNVL (Panvel) quota. The loco gave a long whistle and started moving at 0540 (Delayed! By 25 minutes). Since there were many passengers on the platform holding Wait-Listed tickets, the TTE was strict and was checking all tickets at a quick pace. The TTE asked me whether I was sure, that, my ticket was confirmed. I replied ‘yes'. He asked for the names and berth numbers of my and my Dad and wrote it down on the reverse of the chart. The train was quick to pick up speed. My berth was 16 ‘Side Upper' and my dad's 27 ‘Upper'. The side-lower berth was shared by two passengers who held only a RAC accommodation. I decided to lie down for some time on my berth.
At around 0610, newspapers were distributed and this was followed by the tea-tray. This tray had a pack of three ‘Marie' biscuits, two toffees, two tea bags, two packets each of Dairy Whitener and Sugar. After about five minutes, a tea cup and a flask of Hot-water was distributed. The train had a non-stop haul upto Kolad (0705) where we halted for some reasons best known to the loco pilot(s). We left Kolad at 0708. After this we crawled through stations like, Mangaon (0723), Veer (0738) and Karanjadi (0744). Breakfast was served at around 0800 AM. It consisted of some “upma”, “medu vada”, two slices of bread, some butter and a pack of Mixed-fruit Jam. Tea was served again. We continued our ‘marathon' upto a ‘way-side' called Ukshi. This station is just before Ratnagiri and is at the ‘mouth' of a Tunnel. We stopped at this station at about 0917. This was to give way for the H.Nizamuddin bound 2617 Mangala Lakshadweep Express. Mangala was hauled by WDM2a#17339 from Ernakulam. This train simply zipped past us. We finally left the station at 0928. We had a good run upto Ratnagiri. Just outside Ratnagiri, the train came to a screeching halt, because the loco pilot doubted a “cattle-hit”. I was a witness to this, since I was at the Door. The loco was on the curve just outside Ratnagiri Station and we were at a very high speed. The horns were continuously being blown since the curve was sharp. Suddenly, a terrified herd of cattle sprinted across the track and the last one just missed the loco. Probably, its hind limbs were hit. After halting, we continued our journey and we pulled into the station at a very low speed. A Roll On-Roll Off rake was waiting at the station for us to ‘vacate' the main line. The loco was WDG2#14944 from Erode. This loco had an Air-Conditioned cab.
We finally entered Ratnagiri at 0955, delayed by 38 minutes. We had a 10-minute halt at the station. At this station, the loco crew changes and KRCL employees take over. The crew of the loco had four members. They continue all the way upto Kankanadi. We departed from the station at 1005. We resumed our marathon quickly. We crossed the Mumbai bound 6346 Netravati express at Nivasar (1022 hrs). At about 1102, we slowed down and here we crossed the Diva passenger (KR6) which was hauled by WDM2a#18238 from Erode. After Rajapur Road , where we crossed KR6, we resumed our marathon. Station simply flew past. We slowed down as we approached Sawantwadi. We had a halt here. As we entered the station (at 1215 hrs), the Mumbai bound 0104 Mandovi Express hauled by WDM3a#18546 from Krishnarajapuram was seen waiting for us. We left the station at 1218, now delayed by an hour and 18 minutes. As we left the station, some electrical failure was reported in our coach and the entire electrical circuit of the coach was switched off. It started getting hot in the coach since the AC was switched off. The circuit was repaired and was switched on after about 30 minutes. We kept our speed as we entered Goa .
Soup was served at 1220. Our lunch was served at about 1240. The lunch tray contained some Laccha Parathas, Panner Mutter, some Rice, Dhal, Curd (or Lassi) and a Salad without Onions. We crossed Verna at 1306. Here the rake of the new introduced Goa Sampark Kranti Express was parked. The rake was homed by NR. At Suravli (1311 hours), the Verna bound KR1 passenger was crossed. We reached Madgaon at 1320. Lunch for the Loco crew was served at Madgaon. We had a 20 minute halt at Madgaon. We left Madgaon at 1340, delayed by 55 minutes. As we left Madgaon, Ice-cream was served. Soon, later an announcement was made on the PA system that effective that day, the train would not halt at Ankola as the halt which was introduced on experimental basis was withdrawn. The train would instead stop at Karwar, which was 30-odd kilometers before Ankola. Some passengers in our coach got tensed and got ready to alight at Karwar. The train halted at Karwar for two minutes (at 1424 hours). We soon departed and we next halted at Ankola (at 1440, delayed by an hour and 8 minutes). We left the station after a two-minute halt. We next stopped at Bhatkal (at 1544 hours) after a non-stop run that lasted over an hour. The halt at Bhatkal was unscheduled and that was for a freighter, which was just entering into the loop line. The rake was hauled by WDG3a#13066 from Kalyan. The next halt was at Udupi which was reached at 1643, now delayed by an Hour and 21 minutes. After Udupi, we had a fast non-stop run upto Kankanadi. We had to slow down at Thokur, since we were diverted to the loop line. The reason was that a light WDM2a#18534 from Erode was occupying the main line.
A few kilometers south of Thokur, KR territory ends and we enter SR territory. The section between Thokur and Kankanadi was a maiden experience for me, since I was travelling from Madgaon to Kankanadi in the day light for the first time. We entered Kankanadi at 1745, delayed by 35 minutes. The loco was refueled again and we resumed our journey at 1755. The loco pilots change at Kankanadi and SR employees take over. Our next stop was Canannore, which was reached at 1957 with a delay of 19 minutes. We left Canannore at 2000. Dinner was served after this station. The Main course consisted of Laccha Parathas, Malai Kofta, Rice, Rajma Curry, Curd and Salad (without Onion). The main course was preceded by ‘Rasam' which was served as a soup. The desert, Vanilla Ice-Cream, was served soon after. We reached Calicut at 2115, early by 13 minutes. We departed on time, at 2130. Since the passenger at the side-lower berth near me alighted at Kankanadi, my dad shifted here. We ‘exchanged' our berths. My dad took my Side-Upper and I took the Side-Lower berth. We instantaneously fell asleep since we had woken up at 0330 on that day.
We were to alight at the Last Stop, which is Trivandrum Central. So we were completely relaxed and had a sound sleep. I got up at around 0445 and decided to finish the morning chores. We had to travel by road to our destination which was two hours away from Trivandrum . As I was brushing my teeth, I noticed that we had not even reached Ernakulam! On enquiring with co-passengers, I realised that we were detained at Shoranur Junction for over three hours. The reason was a derailment near Trichur. Our journey plans was completely spoiled. According to the journey times, the train would not reach Trivandrum before 0830. Our destination was two hours away and hence we would not reach before 1030. We were to attend a function scheduled for 0930 AM. We decided to alight at Ernakulam itself and proceed by Road. We reached Ernakulam at 0510, delayed by three hours and 40 minutes. We went to a relatives' house at Edapally in Ernakulam and went to our destination with them we were to leave at 0600.
A great journey came to a grinding halt due to this delay. Though my wish of travelling to Trivandrum was not fulfilled but traveling on a Rajdhani was. Thank you for reading this report. Waiting for your comments and Suggestions…
