Welcome to Railway Junction

After all plans to travel from Guruvayur to Trichur by train were slashed, we took a taxi to Trichur. We reached Trichur station at close to 1500. The station was heavily crowded as two major departures were expected in the next 40 minutes. We found our way to find the coach position for our train, 6346 UP Trivandrum Central - Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Netravati Express. The chart showed the position of our coach as 18. We tugged our luggage and made our way to platform number 2. The FOB that connects the station's main platform to platform 2 where our train arrives is at the Shoranur end, due to which we would reach the platform at the point where coach number 3 stops. We walked the entire length of the platform to reach the point where our coach arrives. Sometime later, close to 1519, the first major departure, the 6301 Shoranur-Trivandrum Venad Express pulled behind WAP4 #22389 from Erode. She left after a short 5-minute halt. At about 1542, our train pulled into the station behind WDM2c #14046 from Erode. Our coach was AS3 (02115/A, based at Trivandrum ). The coach was manufactured in August 2002. We occupied our allotted berths and I made a move towards the door. Our pairing train was soon expected. She pulled in with Erode WDM3a #14126 at her helm. We picked up speed as soon as we left the station. The coach had a lot of empty seats. We crossed a rake of VPUs led by an Erode WDG2 shortly before Vallathol Nagar. Soon after, our train slowed down and we kept coasting for about a kilometre or two. Close to 1631 hrs, we crossed the Alleppey bound 3351 Dhanbad/Tata Express, with her new AB rake. The loco was WAM4-6PD #21269. We pulled into Shoranur at 1645, which about 5 minutes before time. We left Shoranur at 1655, after we had the water tanks of our coach filled. We kept going until Karakad, where we were put into the platform loop line. Here we crossed a rake of BOXC wagons hauled by WDG3a #13197 from Erode. We left the station at 1715. We kept going until Kuttipuram, where we have a regular halt. The train pulled into the station at 1743, with a delay of 19 minutes. We were made to wait until a freighter cleared the line ahead. The freighter, a 70-wagon tanker rake, pulled in behind a lone WDM2 #17108 from Ernakulam. We left the station at 1803, with a delay of 38 minutes.

We crossed the Ernakulam bound 6306 Intercity at Tirunavaya. The loco was WDM2 #16459 from Ernakulam. We pulled into Tirur at 1821, with a delay of 32 minutes. The entire station was waiting for the Chennai bound 6602 Mail. The entire platform was crowded, and slowly-silently our train pulled out of the station. The section between Shoranur and Calicut was previously under Upper-Quadrant Semaphore signaling. This is now being replaced by Multiple-Aspect Colour Light (MACL) signals. Most Semaphore posts have been knocked down. Just as we picked up speed after the halt, the 6602 Mail crossed us at a good pace. After, Tirur the run had no note-worthy incidents. Many train whizzed past us under the cover of darkness. We pulled into Calicut by 1935, with a delay of close to 20 minutes. The dinner was served by 8pm. I decided to sleep by 2030. Mine was a Side-Upper berth. (Personally: I love this berth a lot. I usually get suffocated while sleeping on Middle/Upper berths in AC compartments. In case of SUBs the berth are very-much ventilated and you have a dedicated AC vent. Just pull over the blanket and slip into dreams.) The bedroll supplied this time was clean and looked fresh. The bed sheets were crisp and sparkling white. The AC was running very low and it became hot by night!

I got up at close to 0630. Quickly finished my regular morning chores and decided to hit the door. I stood at the door sipping a cup of hot tea for the pantry car. To be honest-I would rate the Pantry of Netravati express with 7/10 marks. We pulled into Verna at 0650. There were a few Erode WDMs and two Kazipet WDG3a's. We slowly pulled through the main line without stopping. We next stopped at Karmali (0712) and Thivim (0734). Our first stop in Maharashtra was Kudal which was reached by 0849, with a delay of 24 minutes. We left Kudal after a schedule 2-minute halt, by 0851. We had a non-stop run at a good pace until Nandgaon road, 43 kilometers away from Kudal. We pulled into the loop line of Nandgaon Road (NAN) at 0914. Here we crossed the Madgaon bound 0111 Konkan Kanya Express, hauled by Pune's WDM3a # 17854R. We left NAN at 0920. We had a non-stop run from NAN until Ratnagiri, where we reached by 1110, early by 10 minutes! That was a distance of 96 kilometers covered in 110 minutes at an average of 52.36 kmph! We left Ratnagiri at 1130, with a delay of 3 minutes. During the 20 minute halt at RN, I spotted an Erode WDM2 (#18533) coupled to a rake of Flat wagons and Erode's WDG2 #14663 coupled to the other end.

After Ratnagiri, a surprise in the form of Jan Shatabdhi was awaiting me. JS was held up at Ukshi to let us cross! JS was hauled by Erode's WDM2c #14054. After Ukshi, which we crossed at 1159, we had another breath-taking non-stop run until Chiplun. We pulled into Chiplun by 1305, early by full 15 minutes. The distance from Ukshi to Chiplun, 56 kilometers, was covered in 66 minutes with an average speed of 50.9 kmph. At Chiplun, we crossed a Roll on-Roll off (RoRo) rake hauled by Erode's WDG2 #14799. We left Chiplun, on-time, at 1330. That was the beginning of another non-stop breathtaking run. We crossed the Madgaon bound 0103 Mandovi Express at Anjani and the Sawantwadi bound KR5 Passenger at Diwan Khavati. The non-stop run was intercepted at Kolad. We were put into the loop line of Kolad, where we reached at 1525. The distance from Chiplun to Kolad, 115 kilometers, was covered in 115 minutes with an average speed of 60.0 kmph. At Kolad, we crossed our pairing train; the Trivandrum bound 6345 Netravati Express. We flew past behind Erode's WDM3a #18558 at 1530. We left Kolad at 1555. We finally left Konkan Railway territory exactly at 1603 hours.

We pulled into Roha station at 1605. Here the crews changed. The rake of the Diva Passenger was stationed on PF1. Surprisingly, the passenger was given the go-ahead before us. It meant that we would have to follow a stopping passenger train atleast until Nagothane. We were given the go-ahead from Roha at 1627, against the scheduled departure time of 1543. That was a delay of 44 minutes. We stopped at Nagothane station on the main line, where a few caution orders were issued! We slowed down to a meagre 10 kmph as we approached a bridge that was damaged in the recent deluge. A temporary bridge has been erected at that place and all trains have a speed restriction of 10 kmph. We soon pulled into the loop line of Kasu station. A construction special headed by New Katni Junction's WDG3a #14791 was on the other loop line. The loco was dead! We finally hit the brakes at Kasu at 1703. The wait kept becoming long. 1730 went past and there was no sign of atleast a “Caution” signal. Finally the signal on the adjacent line turned green at 1756. Man that was another crossing! The train was the Mangalore bound 2619 Matsyagandha express hauled by Erode's WDM3a #14124. She pulled in at 1758. We left the God forsaken station, called Kasu, at 1800 after a long unscheduled halt of 57 minutes. The loco pilot could hardly pick up any speed, and we were put to the platform line of Pen. Here we crossed a light Erode WDM2 #17474 and a Kalyan WDM2 (#17608) hauled rake of BOXC wagons. The loco showed signs of picking up speed. We left Pen at 1818, only to be held up again at Jite (at 1840). That was a distance of 20 kilometers covered in 22 minutes, with an average speed of 54.54 kmph. Not bad!

This halt infuriated many passengers in our coach and temperatures began to rise. The answer to the halt was seen at 1844. That was the Ratnagiri bound KR3 passenger, hauled by Kalyan WDM2 #17590. We finally left the station at 1846. We finally pulled into Panvel at 1925, with a delay of 122 minutes (2 hrs 2 minutes). The pilot required not less than 39 minutes to cover 16 kilometers from Jite to Panvel at an average of just 24.61 kmph!!!

A joyous journey on the 6346 ended with a huge delay and I saw temperatures rising in the coach with many passengers protesting against the administration and its inefficiency to handle such crossings. The passenger train which was allowed to proceed ahead of us had already reached its destination by the time we could manage to pull into Panvel! That really showed the inefficiency to the section traffic controller.

Hope you enjoyed reading this report.