Welcome to Railway Junction

Wednesday, December 07, 2005 – My mobile Alarm started to cry loudly at about 0420. I got up with excitement and rushed trough my morning chores and an elaborate bath in cold water was done. I had a very light breakfast and left for Belapur CBD Railway station (which falls on the Harbour Section of Central Railway's Mumbai Suburban System) on my dad's bike. The time was around 0530 then. I walked through a very empty subway and finally reached the ticket counter. The clerk at the counter was awake and asked him for a single journey ticket to Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus a.k.a. Mumbai CST. I walked back towards the subway and proceeded to Platform No. 3.

I finally reached Platform 3 and found that the rake was already there and I soon walked towards the CST end of the platform and decided to board one of the coaches towards the front of the train. The train was scheduled to depart at 0559 and it did. The train crossed most stations before time and we finally pulled into Mumbai CST by about 0705. I slowly got down from the train and walked towards the mainline platforms. In between, I checked into the newspaper stall and purchased a news paper and picked up a copy of a weekly magazine. The mainline section welcomed me with rope barricades. I was puzzled on ‘How to enter the section'. Soon a RPF officer standing there raised the rope and allowed passengers in. As I entered the section, the PA system came alive and there was an announcement saying that the rake on Platform 9 will go to the coaching yard and passengers are requested not to board any of the coaches. Strange! The coaches were already locked!!!!

Platform-8 had the rake of my train – 6529 Mumbai CST – Bangalore City Udyan Express. My coach was AS2 (SW 03100/AB, Manufactured by RCF Kapurthala in July 2003). The coach was the 6 th from the loco and I had to walk the distance of 12 coaches along with my baggage. Plight of the so-called ‘upper class' passengers!!! The coach composition of the train at this stage was as follows: Loco-SLR-RMS/GS-A1-A2-AS1-AS2-S4 to S13-GS-SLR; totaling 18 coaches. I was the first passenger in my coach, though only an hour was remaining for the departure. I spotted my berth – sad! – 29, Middle berth. I pushed my baggage beneath the lower berth and immediately locked it up with a strong metal chain! I decided to check out the power. By then the ‘empty rake' on Platform 9, which was incidentally the Howrah-Mumbai Mail (via Nagpur), was being readied for shunting. I walked towards the end of the platform and checked the power. The loco was WDM3A #14047 from Krishnarajapuram working Long-Hood Forward.

I quickly returned to my coach. Soon the rake of the mail went out and announcements for the next ‘rake' were made. The next train from that platform was the Lucknow bound Pushpak express. As the rake made its entry, long queues for unreserved seats also showed up; and believe me - the queue was atleast 18-coaches long!!! There was huge RPF presence and people not following the queue were not allowed to enter any of the coaches. Soon announcements regarding the departure timings of both trains were being continuously relayed. Our train departs first at 0805 and followed by Pushpak at 0820. Sharp at 0805, our ALCO gave of its long and typical ALCO style horn and slowly pulled out of CSTM. A long journey now begins…

The run until Dadar was uneventful and we managed a decent show by not getting delayed at Dadar. As we pulled out of Dadar, I noticed something surprising, very surprising – A WDP4 at the sidings near Dadar Terminus! Soon the train picked up speed and we had a long marathon which met a hurdle at Mulund in the form of a red signal. We pulled into Mulund and were made to wait for atleast 5 minutes. The same thing repeated at Thane and we literally crawled through Platform 5 of Thane. But the throbbing sound from the loco was really musical as we pulled through the slums near the Parsik Tunnel. This tunnel now has speed restrictions of 20 kmph and hence we crawled through and we crossed an EMU inside the tunnel. Soon after we exited from the tunnel, a pleasant and smiling TTE made his appearance. I was the only passenger then in the 8-seat bay since the others were expected to join at Kalyan or Pune only. The TTE quickly checked the chart and scribbled “AS2/29” on my ticket and he left. While he was checking the chart, we had already crossed Diva and I saw a long Container rake hauled by an unknown WAG5 moving slowly on the AC lines towards Vasai Road. Oh! I missed it! Soon after my ticket was checked, I decided to hit back to the door. We had already reached Kalyan Yard by then. As we pulled into Kalyan, the Mumbai bound Sinhagad Express slowly pulled out of the station. Our compartment attained its capacity at Kalyan, maybe with about a seat or two empty and about 6 passengers being given only sitting accommodation. We left Kalyan at about 0921 with a delay of 21 minutes. The run from Kalyan to Karjat was almost uneventful except for the crossing of Deccan Queen near Badlapur. Central Railway Catering staffs were busy selling breakfast and it consisted of two slices of bread, two pieces of Veg. Cutlet and some Tomato Sauce. I spotted some spare coaches and one puny loco of the now cancelled Matheran Toy Train at Neral. We pulled into Karjat at 1000. Karjat is a pure Technical halt and bankers were attached here. The bankers consist for our train was Twin MU-ed WCG2s from Kalyan. We left Karjat at about 1005. We crossed Palasdhari soon and the train began its climb across the bhore ghats exactly at 1010. The ALCO smoke quite well and reassured herself that she had assistants to push her!!! The climb was marvelous and the loco was honking almost continuously since maintenance works were being done at many places along the ghat section. We crawled through Khandala at 1037. We finally managed to reach Lonavla at 1048. We left Lonavla at 1050, delayed by 25 minutes. We crossed the mumbai bound 6012 Chennai-Mumbai Express immediately after the station. The run from Lonavla to Pune was totally action free and I decided to settle in the cozy comforts of our coach during the section. I glanced through the news paper that I had purchased in the morning. Suddenly I realised that I had actually missed the catering fellow who takes the order for lunch which would be served at Pune. I re-assured myself that I had a back-up in the form of chapattis packed from home!

We reached Pune at 1155, delayed by 10 minutes. There were a lot of locos around Pune station. I spotted two WR WCAM1s and a hell lot of WDMs from various sheds in the south. We crossed the Solapur-Pune passenger, hauled by WDM2 #17158 based at Pune, while we were at the station. We left at 1205, delayed by over 20 minutes. We actually were made to wait for 10 minutes at Pune where the actual scheduled halt is just 2 minutes. I decide to settle inside the coach until Daund. I had my lunch and decided to hit back to the door. We pulled into Daund at 1320, delayed by 10 minutes. I spotted two WDG3As, both based at Pune having their tanks refueled at the nearby refuelling point at Daund. We left Daund at 1330. The Pune-Daund section is completely doubled and the work from Daund to Bhigwan too has been completed. We were made to stop at Bhigwan for a crossing. We pulled into Bhigwan station at 1354. Here we crossed our pairing train – 6530 Bangalore-Mumbai Udyan Express. The loco was WDM 3A #17995 from KJM. We left Bhigwan immediately after the crossing. We crossed the Mumbai bound 6340 Nagercoil-Mumbai express at Jinti Road. We had a beautiful run from Bhigwan to Kurduvadi. We pulled into Kurduvadi sharp at 1458, delayed by 20 minutes. The NG section of this station is still active and has departures to Latur. I spotted a NG rake coupled to a loco and was ready for departure. We overtook a long BCNA rake hauled by a single WDG3a from Pune and banked by twin WDG3As from Kazipet at Pakni. Doubling work is in progress in the Pakni-Solapur section and hence there were speed restrictions in the range of 20 – 40 kmph in various stretches. We still managed a very good show and pulled into Solapur at 1620, delayed by 25 minutes. I quickly walked upto the front of the rake to see shunting operations. The loco was detached and the loco went out quickly. We were on Platform 3, while the slip coaches to be attached to this train were on Platform 1. The loco reversed and returned to Platform 1. I returned back to my coach without waiting to see the coached being attached. Meanwhile, back in my coach, a vendor came selling tea/coffee. He charged Rs. 10 per unit of Tea/Coffee. I decided to check out as to what was so special in his product. He sells the beverage in a 250-ml cup and the tea/coffee is made from pure milk, unlike others who make tea/coffee is a mixture of Milk with Dairy whiteners and huge quantities of Water!

We left Solapur at 1650, delayed by over 35 minutes. My coach slipped to the 10 th position from the loco since 4 coaches (3 Sleepers and 1 unreserved sitting) were added at Solapur. The run after Solapur was totally uneventful and I settled to reading a magazine sitting at my seat. We stopped at Akkalkot Road (1725) and Dudhani (1805) before reaching Gulbarga at 1915. The platform was so crowded that it resembled like a Suburban station in Mumbai! We left Gulbarga at 1925. It was already too dark to notice anything, and I had to settle at my seat itself. We reached Wadi at 2010, sharp on time! This station happens to be the last station on Central Railway and the crew members change here. The dinner was loaded from here. Dinner was served in an innovative style – On plastic trays like the ones seen on Rajdhani Express. The food was good. I decided to sleep and went to ‘bed' by about 2100. Good night!

I got up at about 0530. I decided to finish of my morning chores before others get up. I returned to the door and by now our train was slowly pulling into Hindupur. The time was 0555. We were early by about 3 minutes! As I opened the door, a tea vendor came in. By now many more passengers got up and the toilets started to be occupied! I was the first customer for the ‘Chaiwallah'. By about 0600, the starter on the main line turned green. Are we heading for an Overtake? At about 0606, the Bangalore bound Rajdhani overtook us. We left the station at 0620, delayed by 20 minutes. The run after Hindupur to Yelahanka was virtually eventless except the Makalidurga Ghats! We pulled into Yelahanka by about 0810 and we departed at about 0820. We crossed a Kacheguda bound special train at Chennasandra. The loco hauling the special was WDM2 #18399 from Moulali. We joined the main line shortly and pulled crawled through Baiyappanahalli. We reached Bangalore East at 0836, delayed by 23 minutes. We crossed a Light WDM2 #17109, which seemed to be rushing back to its home at Krishnarajapuram. We reached Bangalore Cantonment at 0848. The rake of the Ernakulam-Bangalore special train is parked at the station. Most passengers got down at cantonment and only a few passengers like me were remaining in the coach. The train finally managed to pull into Bangalore City Junction at 0920, delayed by 20 minutes. We pulled into Platform 4. I managed to slowly get down from the coach and I was welcome to Bangalore by Pavan, IRFCA Bangalore Chapter, who called me up on my Mobile. Most passengers were infuriated since the train reached on Platform 4 and they had to climb a FOB. On exiting from the station, I was surrounded from all sides by Rickshaw and Taxi drivers. I settled for a rickshaw and started negotiations. I finally settled for 150 bucks for a trip to my brother's house at Bannerghatta road.

Hope you all liked my trip report. Please send me your comments about this report to binaiks@gmail.com.