After a quick dinner, it was the time for us to move on. My brother dropped us at the railway station. I, Dad and Mom were traveling. My Uncle and his family too were traveling in the same train – he was a railway employee traveling back to his place of posting at Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. We reached the station shortly after 2030. Both the platforms were heavily crowded with lots of trains expected around the time. The Chennai Mail was the first to come in – the 24 coach load was hauled by Arakkonam WAP4 #22626. My train – the 2677 Ernakulam – Jaipur Marusagar Express – was to arrive at 2125 on Platform 2. A huge crowd got down from the Chennai Mail, and an equal number got into the train as well. The Bangalore Express (Kanyakumari Bangalore Express) was also running late and was also expected soon on the same platform! It was too hot and humid, and the platform was heavily crowded.

The Coimbatore – Thrissur passenger pulled in at 2106 with Golden Rock WDM2 #16879 in-charge. The 11 coach train was parked on Platform 3, and the loco was removed. The loco then slowly moved ahead and stopped mid-way to the starter. The loco was to head back light to Ernakulam! An announcement about the arrival of my train was made, and a headlight was visible at a distance. The train pulled in right on time, with WDM3A #18707 of Ratlam in charge. The composition of the rake was Loco-SLR-GS-GS-S1 to S10-B1 to B5-A1-GS-GS-SLR. My coach was B5 – WGACCN 05117 based at Jaipur. My train left at 2125 – exactly on time. The occupancy was generally poor in the train. The coach was really cool. I headed off to sleep as soon as the train started its roll. I noticed that the train arrived Shoranur at 2203, early by 12 minutes. I slept much before the train moved out of Shoranur.

The coach was so cool that I slept undisturbed through the night. As I got up, the train was entering Udupi – the time was 0653. We left Udupi at 0655 – now delayed by 37 minutes. We next stopped at Kundapura. We made a brief 2 minute halt, and left at 0725 – late by 39 minutes. Tea vendors got in at this station. The absence of a pantry car in this train was felt badly in the train. There was no word about breakfast. Usually in trains without a pantry car, the order for breakfast is taken by the coach attendant the previous night, and is served in the morning. This was absent in this train. My mom was slightly disturbed on this fact. The run was eventless through the morning and it was drizzling slightly through the morning. We pulled into Bhatkal at 0759. I noticed that the general coaches were pretty heavily crowded. We left Bhatkal at 0801 – now late by 36 minutes.

Breakfast was loaded here, and a vendor came around selling breakfast. Idli-Vada, Poori-Kurma and Parotta-Kurma were on offer in the morning! This was, honestly speaking, the best breakfast I've had on board a train! We stopped at Kumta for a crossing. We crossed a twin Erode WDG3A led BCNA rake at this station. The lead loco was WDG3A #14671 of Erode. Our next halt was at Gokarna. We reached Gokarna at 0915. The scheduled halt here is only 2 minutes. The starter turned amber at 0918, but there were no signs of movement. The train finally moved only at 0923. It was a very uneventful run from Gokarna onwards. We reached Karwar at 0958, and left at 1002 – late by 54 minutes. We finally pulled into Madgaon at 1100 with the delay now shrinking to 35 minutes. We were on Platform 2. Platform 3 was occupied by a twin Erode WDG3A headed BCNA rake. The locos were WDG3A #14902 (leading) and #14797 – both from Erode.

I checked out the loco, and saw that some minor repair works were being done on the loco. So that probably was the reason from the longer halt at Gokarna. A BOXN rake was occupying the main line. I was pretty hungry, and had a plate of Parotta-Kurma here. The catering in the train from Madgaon onwards is handled by Benjoe Restaurant (located on Platform 1 at Madgaon station). There were no signs of movement even after the scheduled 10 minute halt. At around 1123, a twin Ernakulam WDM2 (#18413 & #16565) hauled BOXN rake pulled into Platform 3. We left at 1128. But the reason for holding up my train for so long was unclear – especially when the line ahead is doubled upto Majorda! In my 3 years of frequent travel in this section, my trains were never cleared from the station without halting atleast for 20 minutes! This time the halt was 28 minutes, and the delay went up to 53 minutes! The delay never came down after this!!!

We pulled out of Madgaon at a pretty good pace. The train changed over tracks and entered the UP line. It was a decent run upto Majorda home. We changed over to the KR line, and headed straight towards Verna. We had a slow run to Verna, and pulled into the loop line at Verna station. A while later, WDP4 #20043 of Krishnarajapuram rushed through with the Madgaon bound Konkan Kanya Express in tow. Verna station, like ever, was filled with locos. The loco that I spotted at Verna were: WDG3A #13369 of Kalyan standing light, WDM2 #18420 & #18450 of Golden Rock with a BCNA rake, and WDG3A #13360 of Kalyan with another BCNA rake. We left Verna soon after the crossing. Our next official halt was at Thivim. We reached Thivim at 1230 – delayed by around an hour and 12 minutes! WE left Thivim about 3 minutes later. A good number of passengers got into the train here. We had to stop at Pernem for a crossing. A couple of minutes after we stopped, Ernakulam WDM2 #16674 rushed past with an inspection special train!

The staff on the train was expecting the other train to be the Rajdhani, and this “special” left them surprised! I was happy on seeing one more crossing added to the kitty! We overtook a BCNA rake led by Kalyan WDG3A #14558 at Pernem. The run out of the station was slow. The run was a bit slow after Pernem. We stopped at Sawantwadi station on the main line itself. Just as we stopped, the arrival of the Trivandrum Rajdhani was announced. The Rajdhani pulled into the loop line at around 1318. The loco doing the honors was WDP3A #15524 of Golden Rock (the same loco that I had seen on my down journey with the UP Rajdhani!). The Rajdhani pulled out after a short halt last a couple of minutes (the Rajdhani has a scheduled halt at this station). The condition of coaches of the Rajdhani was bad, and quite a lot of passengers of my train standing around gave a dumbstruck stare at the train and side “our train is better than the Rajdhani!” The pick up of the WDP3A was awesome, and the entire 17 coach train made it to the main line in a very short time. Even a while after the Rajdhani left, there were no signs of my train moving out.

A while later, the PA system came alive and announced the arrival of the Madgaon Jan Shatabdi Express. The Jan Shatabdi pulled in at 1335 with WDM3A #18555 of Erode doing the honors. Just as the Jan Shatabdi stopped, the starter for my train turned green, and we headed off towards Ratnagiri. Lunch was served as the train pulled out. The Veg platter had: Chapattis, A dish made of Green Peas, Rice, Dhal, Curd and Pickle (There were two pickles: One of lemon, and other was Pickled Chilly). We stopped at Kankavali to pick up caution orders. It rained intermittently. We overtook a BCNA rake at Vaibhavwadi Road – Twin Golden Rock locos WDM2 #17544 (trailing) and WDG3A #14670 did the honors. The train maintained good speeds upto Adavli home signal.

We stopped for a second at Adavli home signal, and then picked speed as we ran through the main line. We crossed the Sawantwadi Road passenger at this station – WDM2 #16857 of Ernakulam did the honors. We picked speed quickly after this. There were quite a few caution orders here and there till Ratnagiri. Like every time, we had a beautiful curved approach to the station. We were routed to Platform 2. Platform 1 was occupied by the Ernakulam bound Mangala Express – WDM2 #16877 of Ernakulam did the honors. The main line was occupied by a south bound Ro-Ro rake – WDM3D #11105 of Erode did the honors. Platform 3 was occupied by a north bound BOXN rake. We reached Ratnagiri Station at 1600 – delayed by an hour and two minutes.

The Ernakulam bound Mangala Express left soon after we came to a complete halt. We left the station at 1606, the delay now increasing by a minute (now reaching an hour and three minutes). We crawled out of the station slowly. The north bound BOXN rake had twin Kalyan WDG3As doing the honours (#13308 was leading). Another twins – this time from Ernakulam was seen sleeping off at the freight siding – the locos were WDM2 #16860 and #16678. We picked speed quickly after Ratnagiri. We slowed down at Savarda home, and then picked speed again! The Madgaon bound Mandovi Express was waiting for us at the station – WDP4 #20036 did the honors.

We kept slowing down often, and then speeding up again. This kept going on till we reached Chiplun home. We kept going at a good pace through the station. The Trivandrum bound Netravati Express was waiting on Platform 2 with WDM3D #11106 of Erode doing the honors. My uncle expressed surprise on the train running non stop through Chiplun station (We anyways don't have a scheduled halt at the station, but according to some, the train stops there for technical reasons!). We stopped on the main line at Khed station for unknown reasons. The catering staff (who had joined the train at Madgaon) got down from the train here. We made a rather long halt at the station (to me more correct: on the main line!).

We ran through Diwankhavati station at a good speed, and then halted at Karanjadi station to pick up caution orders. There was some confusion regarding the issue of Caution orders, and we had to wait for a long 5 minutes! Our next scheduled halt was at Veer. We slowed down after the home signal, and then crossed over to the loop line. The Mangalore bound Matsyagandha Express occupied the other loop line. Ernakulam WDM2 #17474 did the honors. We reached Veer at 1843 – now delayed by an hour and 12 minutes. We left a couple of minutes later.

We had an uninterrupted high speed run from Veer to Roha. We slowed down at Roha home signal, then picked speed and ran at high speed through Roha station. We stopped on the loop line at Kasu. We crossed the Kochuveli bound Garib Rath Express here – a Golden Rock WDM2 did the honors. We picked up good pace after this crossing. We crossed the Ratnagiri Passenger at an unknown location. The run was eventless after this crossing. We finally pulled into Panvel station at 2102 – delayed by an hour and 29 minutes! We had a real tough time trying to get down from the train due to other passengers rushing around the door to grab a bite for their dinner! The train doesn't have any catering facility for dinner and passengers are left to search on their own for their dinner! To add to their woes, Panvel doesn't have a decent canteen offering dinner – the only stuff available at the station is Vada-Pav and similar stuff!

We bid adieu to the train and walked towards the suburban side of the station. The suburban side was too crowded, and we had pretty heavy baggage with us! We decided to take a bus instead! The bus journey surely takes more time, but was comfortable atleast! We reached home well past 10 in the night. My uncle informed that the train left Panvel only at 2130, and reached Ratlam about 2 hours late the next morning! So, there ended a journey which would be my last Mumbai-Kerala journey!

Statistics:

	Scheduled	Actual
Running Time	22:08	23:48
Average Speed (kmph)	52.96	49.25
Least Avg Speed (kmph)	39.36	44.52
Highest Avg Speed (kmph)	79.95	87.00
Average Delay	N/A	0:51
Lowest Delay		0:00
Highest Delay		1:29

 

I am eager to know how you liked this report! Please send in your comments and suggestions (brick-bats also welcome) to binaiks [at] gmail [dot] com