Let me start with a disclaimer
here. I am never the one who likes to continuously measure speeds of the
trains. I do it sometimes out of curiosity and findings are just for my
personal records. Most of my blogs stress on the journey and the various
aspects of it. This time around for a change, I decided to put the GPS Speed
Graph App on my Phone to good use and try to blog my suburban journey. Please
note that I don’t intend to generalise my observations and figures noted are
purely a onetime instance and may vary if observed over a period of time.
Last Sunday, (2nd of
March 2014) was a day of a small suburban trip for me. I left early in the
morning for Borivali (BVI) from Dombivli (DI). I was travelling with my family
(mom, dad and wife) and hence my railfanning instincts had to take a backseat. My Dad can’t walk fast or exert himself much.
So the added responsibility of ensuring that he travels with atmost comfort was
also on my shoulders. We took an auto from our residence and diverted it to
reach the base of newly built DI East Escalator. I got the tickets from ATVM
and we took a CST bound Fast train from Platform (PF) 5 at 9:20am.
It was a smooth affair and we
reached Dadar Central (DR) PF 6 by 10:05, delayed by a few minutes. We took the
escalator on PF 6 and reached the Middle Foot over bridge (FOB) by taking an
additional few steps. The next assignment was to get Dadar Western (DDR) PF 3
to catch a Fast train to BVI. Our options were 10:17am Virar (VR) or 10:23am
Dahanu Road (DRD). As we came down the stairs, we missed the 10:17 VR Fast by a
whisker. 10:20am saw an Andheri(ADH) bound fast which we were forced to skip as
it falls short of our destination.
Following it was 10:23am DRD
Fast. ICF AC EMU (We call it a World Class ICF AC EMU) was doing the honours of
this Fast service. I was going to experience a Fast run of the ICF AC rake for
the first time in my life till BVI. Having heard a lot of negatives from other Railfans
about the performance of these rakes when compared to MRVC rakes and Retros, I
must say, I was a bit sceptical about boarding it. The run between DDR to Bandra
(BA) saw us touch 75kmph mark only once as we were continuously riding Amber
(Signal Aspect). I would not like to comment on the speeds because we were
trailing an ADH fast by just a few minutes, and hence would like to give my benefit
of doubt to motorman. Then came the real dampeners, between BA and ADH, we halted
multiple times and crawled through and braked too early for signals and jerks
of stopping were almost old DC styled jerks. The maximum speed we touched was a
lowly 69kmph, even that was just for a fraction of second. Again, I thought the
line ahead was blocked by ADH fast, so after ADH we should recover all the lost
time. Motorman did show what the rake was capable off by hitting 100kmph once during our run between ADH and BVI, but dropped
the speed too soon even though he was running on All Greens (Signal Aspect) for
some time. We ran at sedate speeds and after Kandivli Car Shed (KILE), we
stopped multiple times and overall the run was pathetic and we reached BVI at
11.02am against the actual run times of 10:56. The World Class AC EMU and its
Motorman left me a bit sad with their individual performances. We walked out of
the station and after spending the day at my in-laws place, it was time for the
return journey. My wife was staying back and only my parents were returning
back with me.
We took the Subway to reach PF7
at 6:20pm. A 6:35pm Fast to Churchgate (CCG) was expected as per the indicators.
We decided to play the waiting game when I saw August Kranti Rajdhani Express
making its customary halt. Suddenly at 6:30, the indicator went off and a
6:32pm Slow from BVI to CCG was announced on PF 1. We rushed back to PF1 taking
enough precautions to not exert much. Luckily, we got a seat, but the MRVC
local showed no signs of moving for the next 15 minutes. The train was getting
crowded by every minute and finally when we departed, the many false starts and
stops and drags were pointing to something being wrong on the lines ahead.
Surprisingly, our UP Slow train was taken on the UP Fast track at Kandivli and
we continued to halt at all stations enroute till ADH. In the meanwhile, I
could gauge that there was some trouble brewing on the UP slow line as we had
successfully overtaken 3 slow trains till ADH. We were put back on UP slow line
after ADH and continued at good speed till DDR. The return run was far more
satisfying and we managed to reach DDR by 7:30pm (45 minutes)
To ensure a smoother and sitting
accommodation, in our journey back home, we decided to ditch the earlier
scheduled Fast trains from DR PF 4 and instead take a DR starting Semifast PF5
towards Ambarnath. The additional advantage was that I could test the
performance of my CR MRVC rakes over 3 Neutral Zones (NZ) before reaching DI.
This train has halts of Ghatkopar (GC)-Bhandup (BND) - Thane (TNA) and slow after
that.
The 7:31, 7:35, 7:38 and 7:41 Fast
trains’ parade through PF 4 of DR was ON and our train left just behind the
7:41 Titvala Fast from PF 5 as soon as it cleared the turnout points
Above is the snapshot of run
between DR and GC. The turnout from Pf 5 was negotiated at 20kmph. The run was
not spectacular till GC as potential of MRVC couldn't be unleashed as there
were Temporary Speed Restrictions (TSRs) in place and frequent peaks of highs
were flattened by these speed restrictions. Kurla (CLA) was crossed at a sedate
50kmph. The track lowering, Santacruz Chembur Link Road (SCLR) and Vidhyavihar’s
Permanent Speed Restriction (PSR) ensured we never touched 100kmph.
By now, my mom was observing that
I was continuously peering into my mobile phone. She asked me if I was actually
tracking speeds. I said yes and told her to watch it now. “It will hit 100
before Bhandup”, I said with confidence.
And then it was an adrenaline
rush for mom and me as seen in the attached graph above, where we hit 90kmph
by the time GC ROB was crossed and then as we were swiftly gaining speed, our
heartbeats were increasing in unison. I knew a slowdown of 65kmph was awaiting
us at Vikhroli (VK) but I desperately wanted my MRVC to touch 100 once and as
soon as it did it, mom gave me a big High Five. All the commuters and my dad
were looking at us for our constant peering into my mobile and this sudden joy.
We tapped 100, slowed down at VK for PSR of 65 and then again ramped up our
speed to hit 101 before Bhandup halt.
The run from Bhandup to Thane was
nothing great to write home about but was fine considering all fast trains off
late have been approaching TNA at sedate speeds nowadays, especially since we had a barrage of fast locals ahead of
us. Still we did touch 90 for a few seconds and Mulund NZ(DC-AC) was traversed
smoothly on double amber and around 50kmph as seen in the graph below.
In the above graph, 0kmph speeds
indicate our TNA halt. Our motorman accelerated to achieve 30kmph and while we
used the turnouts to enter Down slow track at TNA north the drop in speed was
noticed as we were purely moving on momentum over the second NZ (AC-DC) that we
encountered in our path. Finally after clearing the NZ, we were back in DC and
accelerated again to reach Kalva.
The Kalva- Mumbra stretch of CR
has one of the most scenic curves in suburban section where we go through 2 small
tunnels. It was again time to hit 100 and MRVC did show its true colours and
the huge mountain that we see in the graph below is the affect of a great
acceleration and smooth deceleration by Motorman.
After Mumbra (MBQ), it was time
to note the third NZ (DC-AC). As soon as
we left MBQ, our motorman ensured that we had enough momentum by speeding up to
50. In the graph below please look at the exponential rise in speed in a
matter of few seconds so that we cross the NZ with at most ease in speeds well
above 40. After NZ, he accelerated in AC mode to hit 50 before coming to halt
at Diva Jn (DW).
My mom, who was with me while I
was furiously making my observations and jotting down points, asked me if we
will again reach the magical figure of 100. I told her that we might see a peak
of 100 before Kopar, but had apprehensions because of Caution Order at Bhopar
Nala. We had Punjab Mail for company in
all its glory running parallel to us. Our Motorman did not disappoint and we
did touch 99 before slowing down to 50 at Bhopar and then coming to a halt at Kopar.
Run between Kopar and DI was not captured as it never goes beyond 60 on that
stretch. Below is the final graph between Diva and Kopar.
All in all, even though it was a hectic day, the
smile was back on my face as the MRVC and CR Motorman used it to full
potential. I don't mean to underestimate the WR Motorman, they may have their
issues of less experience or poor accelerating rakes or high congestion on
tracks, but to enjoy suburban sections, there is no doubt that CR wins hands
down, though I must admit WR is the King when it comes to high speed Mail/Express
travels. I am proud that Mumbai has both the arms.
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