Kerala Special Sojourn on the New Year's Eve

My mom had some work in Thrissur, Kerala, hence I had booked tickets, for her, to and fro journey on 25th Dec 2009 and 8th Jan 2010 respectively by Mangala Express from Kalyan(KYN) to Thrissur(TCR) and back. I and Dad were to stay put in Mumbai. Dad was not interested in spending the New Year in Mumbai especially since the last 3 years he had been celebrating it in Kerala. We decided to surprise everyone by arriving in Kerala on 31st Dec 2009.

Hence, as soon as the Winter Specials were announced, I quietly booked tickets for myself and Dad on the 0165 Dadar-Ernakulam Spl for the 30th Dec 2009. I normally book tickets via the I-ticket format, even though E-ticket is preferred by most who book tickets online. Others may disagree with me, but I have found the seat preference is not always met in E-ticket. But with I-ticket I have always seen that my preferences are met. While booking, I opted for 2 window seats in SL when the availability was more than 100. As expected I got two Lower berths allotted, 41 and 44 in S8. The basic idea of 2 Lower berths is to have access to window at all points in time during the journey, be it day or night, plus the added advantage of having 2 views, one in the direction of wind and one opposite to it.

We had finished with our packing and as the departure time from Thane was 13:30 hrs, we decided to leave home at 11:30 to catch the 11:59 CSTM bound Dombivali local. The 11:59 local often arrives on platform no 2 by 11:40. I have a habit of studying the pattern of the Mail/ Express train that I am bound to travel in the near future. I had seen that the 0165 was being pulled by KYN WDG3A in its previous journeys and used to arrive on platform no 7 at Thane by 13:12 and waited till 13:30 as the Mumbai-Hyderabad Express overtakes from the platform no 5.

Please excuse me for not noting down the loco numbers and their respective sheds as railfanning for me is more about the journey than about the locos involved. I like the way, the scenary passes through as we traverse the vast landscapes of our country. I try to take down the arrival timings at various stations and like to study the crossing trains enroute.May be I am still a novice at that as the breed of railfans we have in IRFCA is truly phenomenal.

We had boarded the CSTM end First Class of the 11:59 local and as we were approaching the Thane creek, saw a WDM3D driven 6345 Netravathi Express making its departure from Platform no 7.We arrived at Thane on platform no 4 at 12:20. We had a trolley suitcase, a backpack and a small bag to carry along with us, hence decided to take the ramp and alighted on platform no 7 by 12:30. I exactly knew the location of my coach, still confirmed the same with the Coach Position indicator board on the platform, and also noted our names on the chart displayed. The platform was relatively empty. Soon Manmad-LTT Godavari Superfast arrived and most of the train emptied out here. I could not understand the purpose of making it halt here instead of platform no 6 as no overtakes happened; neither was any local expected on platform no 6. Godavari Superfast left within 2 minutes. After a few minutes, Chennai-Mumbai Mail/Express arrived on platform no 6 with its customary red liveried RMS coach. This train has dual halts of 2 minutes each as the platform is not long enough to cater to the entire rake at one time. CR has announced tenders for the extension of the platform, and work will soon start for the same.

At 1320, the KYN WDG3A was visible at the south end of platform no 7.It had slowly crossed over from the fast downline to the loopline of platform no 7. The rake composition from the engine was as follows: SLR,UR,A1, B2,B1, S10,S9…S2,S1, UR & SLR. Our coach was S8 as well as 8th from the engine. As we had enough time on hands, we boarded the coach after it came to a complete halt and dragged the luggage to our seats. I noticed an old lady of around 65 years and a young boy of 12 years sitting at our designated seats. I informed them that the seats 41 and 44 belonged to us, which they cleared without any inhibitions. We managed to arrange our luggage properly below the seats and settled in comfortably. In the meanwhile I spotted the Hyderabad bound express overtaking us from platform no 5 at 13:25. We left the station sharp at 13:30. We managed to clear the Parsik Tunnel within 8 minutes, in spite of starting from a loopline. After Mumbra Creek, we slowed down to enter the Platform no 5 line at Diva. In the sidings, spotted a diesel triplet of KYN WDM and 2 Moula-Ali locos. We continued to move at a speed of not more than 20 kmph till the Dativali Triangle. Had a good run till Nilje, where track work made it compulsory for us to adhere to a Temporary Speed Restriction(TSR).

Spotted a huge factory on our south side, with tracks connecting it with the Diva-Panvel line. Also spotted a FCI godown on the same side. Mangala Express and an unknown express crossed us before we were made to halt at Taloje-Panchanand at 14:00 alongside a freighter on the platform line. This halt lasted for 15 minutes. We left at 14:15 and crossed Navde Road at good speed, saw lines breaking off to Kalamboli Goods Shed. The Kalamboli passenger lines take a curve around the goods shed and we slowed down to 20 kmph while doing so. Saw Gangotri stationed at Kalamboli. Also spotted a WAG7 driven freighter as we approached Panvel. Came to a halt at 14:30 and managed to leave Panvel’s platform no 7 only by 14:45.


As we left, Panvel, spotted the single electrified line to Karjat moving towards east and lines to Jasai bifurcating from our lines to the west. Soon we were put on loopline at Somatne to allow passage to 6346 Netravathi Express at 14:48. We left at 14:55, crossed Patalganga River Bridge at 15:12, which continued to keep us company on a good 180 deg curve. We crossed Banganga Bridge at 15:21. Crossed Pen at 15:27 and reached Roha, the last station on Central Railway at 16:00. In spite of the innumerable stoppages and slow downs we were late only by 5 minutes. All this meant that there was a lot of slack time built into our train's timetable. I was prepared for a lot of unscheduled stoppages by now. On platform no 1 was a KYN WGG3A with Roha-Diva passenger.

As the sun rays were hitting us straight in the eyes, I decided to down the shutters for some time. We managed to run at a good speed in Konkan Rail territory till 16:40, when we were put on the loopline at Veer. There was a Ro-Ro service stabled on the other loopline. At 16:46, a green liveried WDP3A driven Thiruvanathapuram Rajdhani blasted past us in its customary red liveried ICF coaches, though the generator van had an unmatched livery. I guess it was the last time I would see those Red liveried coaches, as there was news of Chalo Kerala liveried coaches being introduced sometime in mid-january.We left Veer at 16:49. We were again put on the loopline at Karanjadi at 17:00 for the WDP4 driven 23 coacher Mandovi Express, it went past us at 17:16. There was no sign of our train making any movement forward. We stayed put till 17:40 until a Ratlam loco pulled away an unknown express. I was sure that it would take the Kopar-Vasai Route to WR. Finally, we left and crossed innumerable tunnels only to be put on the loop at Diwankhavati at 18:00. The PAS announced a 15 minutes halt for the crossing. This was the first time I was hearing an official announcement of the train being put on the loopline for a crossing. It was the Nagercoil-Gandhidham Express, I guess as it really sped away.

We left at 18:15, reached Khed at 18:30, Chiplun at 18:55 and Savarde at 19:25. We patiently waited for the 2052 Janshatabdi to clear the tracks for us, which blasted past at 19:30.As this is a special train, it didn’t have any pantry car facility, and we had to satisfy ourselves to the only 2 options available for dinner between, Veg biryani and Chicken biryani. We had to halt at Bhoke for 5 minutes at 20:15 to clear the way for a freighter to cross us from the opposite direction. By now I had resigned to my fate. We were halting at every instance of a train approaching us. We reached Ratnagiri at 20:30, halted for only 5 minutes. We halted at Vilavade at 21:20 for a freighter and at 21:40 on the through line at Rajapur Road for receiving the WDP4 driven Konkankanya Express on the platform line. I went to sleep at 22:00 on the Middle berth. As the Goan aunty and the kid who were sitting besides us were to get down at Thivim. Dad occupied the LB and I used the MB on same side to allow them to sit comfortably till their destination. Out train stopped at Pernem at 23:45 and managed to reach Thivim at 00:00 instead of the scheduled time of 22:42. I emptied the MB and occupied the other legitimate LB which we had booked. I knew there were other passengers who were booked for the 2 MB and 2 UB in our aisle. This was the first time; I was experiencing something of this sort. (Only LBs booked and the rest 4 berths were empty). At Thivim, a father-daughter duo came and occupied the 2 UB. I was expecting a good morning now. As we had switched off the tube light in the aisle, I could not manage to converse with them in the dead of the night. At Madgaon, a foreigner couple made their way into our aisle. They were not able to locate their seats, I turned on the light and explained them that they could keep their luggage beneath the LB and recline on the 2 middle berths booked under their names.

I was finally expecting a lot of chit-chat in the morning with the foreigner couple and father-daughter duo in the morning along with a misty morning view of Kerala. Finally had a good sleep and woke up at 06:30 at Barkur, still in Karnataka. We were waiting for a Twin-diesel driven freighter to clear the line for us. As there were not many people near the lavatory, managed to freshen up, just-in time for Suratkal at 07:30. Spotted Mangalore-Verna passenger with Dark Blue coaches with Red stripes. The coaches had KR markings, no SWR markings. After Suratkal, we were moving at a speed of not more than 60kmph for sometime, when I spotted lines breaking off from the KR lines to the west. I didn’t expect Mangalore central lines so soon; these lines might be going to the port, (corrections welcome).Also spotted Twin WDG4 parked somewhere far on those lines. We reached Mangalore Junction (formerly, Kankanadi). As we were having our breakfast of hot idlis and coconut chutney, Yeshwantpur-Kannur Express approached us on the adjoining platform. I prayed, for our departure as I didn’t want to see my train been overtaken. I am sure that in the darkness of the night, we might have certainly been overtaken by the faster running Matsyagandha Express from LTT. Thankfully, we left first at 08:07.

We were held up outside Thokur, the last station under KR territory for 10 minutes. We left the station at 08:27 and crossed the majestic single line Netravathi Bridge at approx 15 kmph. The work on the second bridge is under progress. In the far distance, one can see the road bridge running parallel. On the other side of the Netravathi bridge was a Mangalore Passenger waiting for us to clear the bridge to make its way across this single line bridge. Apparently, double line section of Mangalore-Shornur line starts at the south end of Netravathi Bridge. Within 5 minutes, spotted another north bound train stuck at Ullal. Manjeshwar and Uppala had station names in 4 languages, English, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam. We crossed Shiriya River at 09:00 and Kumbala at 09:05. Finally, reached Kasargod at 09:13, marking the entry in God’s Own Country.

By now, my fellow commuters had got out of the berths and I try to acquaint myself with them. The father-daughter was traveling all the way to Thiruvanthapuram. They were planning to get down at Kozhikode and catch the faster TVM Janshatabdi. They were certainly not malayalees as they were conversing in Tamil. The girl was a final year student of Civil Engineering. The other couple was German and was on their second trip to Kerala. They were traveling till Ernakulam. Being a rail enthusiast has its pros and cons while traveling. Unknowingly, your attention is always diverted to the window even though the subjects inside the compartment are equally interesting. Soon, I was bombarded with questions like, how much time had we lost and will we reach on time. I was carrying the running timetable of our train, which helped me a lot in answering their questions. I had firm belief in the train recovering all the delays we had incurred till now as there was a lot of slack built into the timetable. I assured the girl that she should certainly be able to catch the TVM Janshatabdi from Kozhikode and also assured the Germans that they will reach Ernakulam by 18:00 as stated in the timetable. My belief stemmed from the fact that the train was given 1 hr between Kuttipuram and Shornur for a modest distance of 30 kms and Thrissur-Ernakulam run was given a complete 3 hrs. Doubling of the line has certainly helped in this sector.

Spotted Kannur-Mangalore passenger at Kolikullam. We reached Kanhagad at 09:30, where TVM-MAQ express was waiting to welcome us. We reached Payyanur at 10:00, late by only 25 minutes. As we were leaving each station, we were slowly making up for all the lost time. At one point, we were delayed by 2.5 hrs at Madgaon. As I was trying to collect information from my fellow German commuters, they said German trains were all like capsules, with no open windows as they traveled at high speeds. The best way to see India was to travel in long distance trains. This certainly made me proud of Indian railways. They opined that the tickets were very cheap and they were very happy to spend the Christmas in Goa and intended to spend the New Year’s Eve in Cochin.

We reached Kannur at 10:30. I spotted the empty rake of the return Kannur-Yeshwantpur Express on one of the platforms. We left Thallasery and Vadagara at 11:00 and 11:28. Now we were late by only 20 minutes and to everybody’s surprise, my prediction was slowly becoming reality. We reached Kozhikode, bang on time at 12:10. The father-daughter duo thanked me for the correct prediction and reducing their anxiety. We crossed the scenic Ferok bridge at 12:25, Tirur and Kuttipuram arrived at the scheduled timings. The double line section become a narrow single line between a few metres of north of Kozhikode station and continues to be so till a few metres of north of Kallayi. This is a potential bottleneck on this otherwise double line. As we had to cover a mere 30 kms for a running time of 60 minutes between Kuttipuram and Shornur, I was sure that we would soon be put on a loopline before Shornur, as it is one of the busiest station in Kerala and Railways will certainly not allot a platform for longer duration especially a least important winter special train. As expected we were put on the loopline at Karakad. We were held up for 20 minutes and finally managed to reach Shornur late by 10 minutes. As the train was running till Ernakulam, there was no traction change at Shornur, we continued with our faithful KYN WDG3A. Finally, managed to reach Thrissur at 15:18, late by only 18 minutes as we had a few speed restrictions between Punkunnam and Thrissur. Also, managed to spot the single electrified line to Guruvayur bifurcating from the mainlines towards west. The most evident thing in the run between Shornur and Thrissur is the Bharatapuzha river bridge and the level at which the 2 lines are laid. There are innumerable curves on this section and the double lines for the most part of the journey run at different levels.

Thrissur, as usual, was neat and clean. Even though, it has only 3 platforms, it a very important station on the map of Kerala and all the trains have a halt at Thrissur, except one. We alighted at platform no 1 and pulled our luggage out from the Main exit of the station. There were policemen guarding the gate and soon we managed to hire an auto to our house which is barely 2 kms from the station.

We rang the door bell and as soon as the door opened the excitement/astonishment on the face of my mom and our relatives were priceless. We had traveled all this way to catch this expression on their faces. The journey was truly fulfilling….


Nikhil Padinjaroot Karunakaran