Welcome to Railway Junction

A day I had been waiting for, 17 February 2005. I, for the first time, would be travelling from Kerala to Mumbai by Konkan Railway. That means, I will be able to see many places, which I usually cover during the night.

Travelling by 6346 Trivandrum-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Netravati Express (Which departs from Trichur at 1540 hours, meant that I will have to leave my family home at 1300 hours or at 1330 hours maximum. The distance from my place (Kodungallur) to the station is 30 odd kilometers and takes ideally 70 minutes by a town bus. So boarding a bus at 1330 means, I would reach the bus stop nearest to the station atleast by 1440 hours and the station is a good 10 minutes walk from the bus stop. There was some shopping in the way and that ensured that I reached the station by 1500.

When I reached that station, announcements were made regarding the arrival of the erstwhile ‘king of Mumbai bound trains' the Mumbai CST bound 1082 Cape-Mumbai Kanniyakumari Express. I rushed to the platform (#2) to catch a glimpse of its power. The train (1082) finally arrived at 1503 hauled by WAP4 #22380 from Erode. This loco hauls the train from Ernakulam Town upto Katpadi, from where a diesel loco takes over. This train is a normal 18-coach affair with one Second AC (2A), one Third AC (3A), ten Sleeper coaches, one pantry, three general sittings and two SLR compartments. The train departed at around 1510. Three minutes later, at 1513, the Trivandrum bound 6302 Shoranur- Trivandrum Venad express arrived with WAP4 #22358 from Erode at its Helm. This train departed at 1515 or thereabouts.

Now, announcements regarding the arrival of the Kanniyakumari bound 6318 Jammu Tawi – Kanniyakumari Himsagar Express. This train happens to be India 's longest running train. It covers 3751 Kms in 4 days. Surprisingly this train was on time and reached Trichur at 1525. This train will reach its destination at 0055 hours early next day (Friday). This train leaves from Jammu Tawi on Mondays! This train was hauled by a WAM4-6PD #20418 from Arakkonam. This loco hauls this train all the way from Delhi to Ernakulam Town , continuously from two long days! This train is a very puny rake of just 13-14 coaches. The rake had a High Density Parcel Van attached just behind the loco. The rake has a First Class too! It left after its scheduled halt of 5 minutes. While this train was still at the station, a LPG tanker rake hauled by Ludhiana 's WAG5 #23289 passed by through the station.

To add to my woes, an announcement was made that the Mumbai bound 6346 Netravati Express (my train) would be arriving late by 25 minutes at 1600 instead of the scheduled 1535 hours. The wait for my train from 1530 till 1600 hours was uneventful since there were no arrivals or departures at the station. Finally, at 1602 hours, WDM2c #14051 from Erode pulled in the rake of Netravati Express into the station. Boarding the coach was difficult, since some work was going on at the platform and the coach was quite hing from the platform. My coach was S9, the 11 th from the loco. The coach was quite old, built in 1990! It still had the old model bulbs and not tube lights. The upholstery had been torn at many places. The train started moving at 1610 hours. The coach had a flat wheel and that ensured that we had some background music for the entire length of the journey. One astonishing fact was that my berth number was 34. My berth during my journey to Kerala also was #34.

The run was quite impressive but uneventful. Many small station were passed at high speed with any halt. As we pulled into Shoranur Station, (at 1705, 15 minutes late) the Alleppey bound 3351 Dhanbad – Alleppey Express hauled by an Arakkonam WAM4 was seen waiting for us to clear the main line. This train still has a Vacuum-braked rake, while most other trains now have Air-braked rakes. The rake of this train is homed by East Central Railway and is based at Dhanbad. The train left soon. We departed from the station at 1710 hours (now delayed by 20 mins). Southern Railway's Track Recording Car #98890/A-V was parked on the adjoining platform. A freighter lead by Dual headed Erode WDG2s was also waiting at the loop line. The locos were #14739 (leading) and #14670 (trailing). The run from Shoranur to Kuttipuram was non-stop and at a high speed. We reached Kuttipuram at 1750 (delayed by 28 minutes). While we were waiting at the station's platform line, a freighter headed by WDG2 #14601 from Erode arrived on the main line. We departed from the station at 1753. The run from Kuttipuram to Tirunavaya was slow, with the train crawling at many places due to speed restrictions since work of doubling the line was going on. We had to wait at Tirunavaya for the Chennai bound 6002 Mangalore-Chennai Mail to cross. The train was headed by WDM2#16830 from Erode. The train did not halt at the station but was at a very low speed since we were on the main line; it had to crawl through the platform line.

Our next scheduled stop was at Tirur which was reached at 1835 (Delayed by 55 minutes). Here we crossed the Ernakulam bound 6306 Canannore-Ernakulam Intercity which whizzed past with WDM2 #18337 at its helm. We departed from the station at 1845. We next stopped at Parpanangadi at 1905 hours and departed at 1915 hours, now being delayed by an hour and 5 minutes. Our next major halt was Calicut , which was reached at 2000, delayed by 45 minutes. We departed at 2010, now delayed by 50 minutes. After Calicut , the train made up some of the lost time. We reached Badagara at 2055 (35 mins late) and Canannore was reached at 2148 (33 mins late). I retired for the day. By now I had exchanged my Middle Berth for a Side lower berth. I slept as soon as the train left Canannore (2150 hours). The sleep was disturbed due to the heat. I finally woke up at 0615.

The train pulled into Madgaon station at 0620 hours, now delayed by 30 minutes. I was seeing Madgaon station for the very first time in day light. It wasn't day light then but the lights from Sodium Vapour lamps! At the station, I spotted two WDMs, one was light while the other was readying itself to haul the Sawantwadi bound KR8 Passenger train. The train departed after a prolonged halt of 14 minutes at 0634. The loco pilot was quite enthusiastic and he was picking up speed quite quickly. We pulled into Karmali, our next halt, at 0705, delayed by 36 minutes. Most stations along Konkan Railway have only two platforms with exception of stations like Madgaon, Ratnagiri and Chiplun where there are three platforms. One specialty of stations on Goa (Pernem to Canacona) is that the two platforms are on the left side of trains bound to Mumbai. But one cannot pass from Platform #1 to Platform #2 without using the Foot over Bridge (FOB). The scheduled halt for my train at Karmali was only a minute. But even after 10 minutes of halt (0705 till 0715), there were no signs of the train leaving the station. The answer to my question came in the form of the Trivandrum bound 6333 Hapa – Trivandrum Express. It was hauled by WDM2a #14127 from Erode. We finally departed at 0720 after a prolonged halt. This halt ensured that our train was now delayed by 50 minutes.

Our Next halt was Thivim, which was reached at 0740 and we departed at 0742. The delay was now reduced to 40 minutes. We then sped through stations like Pernem, Madure and Sawantwadi Road without even a slow down. We arrived at Kudal, our next halt, at 0825 and departed at 0826 with a delay of 46 minutes. At about 0854, we slowed down. We were entering a station called ‘Kankavali'. Here, the Madgaon bound 0111 Konkan Kanya Express was waiting for us to pass. We crossed the train and quickly gained speed. After Kankavali, we had a non-stop run upto Ratnagiri. This section is quite hilly and there are numerable tunnels. Since we were in Sleeper class, the entrance of each and every tunnel could be felt. When the train enters a tunnel at a high speed, a change in pressure occurs suddenly and we feel it since our ears may get blocked, like what happens during take-off or turbulence in an aircraft. Since the locos are diesel powered, the smoke also irritates the passenger.

Ratnagiri was finally reached at 1030 (delayed by 45 minutes). As we entered the station, I could notice a loco with its flashers at ‘on' entering the station. The loco was WDM2c #14049 from Erode and the load was the Madgaon bound 2051 Dadar-Madgaon Jan Shatabdhi Express. At this station the loco pilots of Jan Shatabdhi changes and KR employees take over. My train departed from the station at 1040, with a delay of 50 minutes. We now had a non-stop run again upto Chiplun. The journey in this section was uneventful. There were no crossings. Just a solitary train passing through tunnels, bridges and racing with vehicles on the road running parallel to the railway tracks.

We pulled into Platform #2 of Chiplun Station at 1150 hours. Now we were delayed by just 38 minutes. The actual scheduled halt is for 10 minutes. To make thing worse, an announcement was made regarding the late running of the Sawantwadi bound KR5 Passenger train. It was not expected before 1215. Remember: the section ahead is single lined and we cannot proceed until the passenger reaches the station. Our wait finally came to an end at 1216 when the passenger pulled in to the station. We were finally permitted to move at 1220, with a delay of 58 minutes. The loco pilot did not want to finish his duty late. So he was quick in picking speed. It seemed quite easy for a well-maintained loco like ours, to start off hauling a 21-coach rake. The train cross Anjani at a very high speed where the Madgaon bound 0103 Mandovi express was waiting for us in the platform line. We kept going at high speed upto Diwan Khavati, where we waited at the Outer signal. The reason was that a Freighter hauled by a non-‘shakti' WDG3a #14562 from Kalyan was just pulling into the loop line while we had already reached. We pick up speed and quickly crossed the rake. We picked up speed again. At Karanjadi, the Ernakulam bound 2618 Mangala Lakshadweep Express was waiting for us. Its loco was WDM2a #17483 from Ernakulam. We were still going at a high speed. We kept the speed going upto Roha. Konkan Railway territory ends a kilometer or two south of Roha Station. Roha station comes under Central Railway's Mumbai Division.

Roha was reached at 1405, delayed by 20 minutes. At Roha the duty of the loco pilots changes and CR loco pilots take over. The station's yard had the rake of Roha-Diva Passenger, in which the loco was at the center of the rake. The loco was live and it was WDM2 #18852 from Kalyan. We departed from Roha at 1409, with a delay of 21 minutes. CR territory has nothing special worth noting. Some time later, at about 1425 hours, the speed reduced and the train came to a halt. Our coach was then on a bridge. A very cool breeze could be felt. We started moving at a very low speed, or rather, we started crawling at 1427. While we negotiated a turn I could notice a loco on a loop line. As we drew closer, I noticed that it was WDM2c #14140 from Erode and It was hauling the Trivandrum bound 6345 Netravati Express. We quickly cross the train and picked up speed again. Finally, the train crawled across a level cross and a lot of points to enter the platform line of Panvel Station. As the train approached the level cross, one could see a cluster of Over Head Equipment for Electric Traction and there is a Sub-Station which caters to the 25kV AC Traction. The train has to cross innumerable points to enter the station and considering this, the approaching speed of the train is limited to 10 kmph. Panvel station was reached at 1525, with a delay of just 15 minutes. Panvel station was my destination and my home is a good 15 kilometers by road from the station. With bit of grief, I ended my journey on the KR route. It was a transition from the hot, humid climate along the KR route to the AC Comforts of our Car. There ends a Magnificient journey which began on 13 th of this month. It lasted for 5 long days!

Thanks to everybody for ready this long-ish travelogue. Please send in you comments and remarks…