We have often come across railfanning trips undertaken by fellow railfans across the vast and diverse expanse of India. I myself have been part of a few such exhilarating trips. Being in Mumbai, the suburban travel has been an integral part of our lives. Off late with the advent of modern ways of communicating like Whatsapp, where information sharing across people who share a common passion has become cheap and easy. A few railfans in Mumbai have made a common closed group on Whatsapp where we discuss our sightings and make our silly queries and have them answered. If a discussion generates enough interest or has valuable information that can be shared on IRFCA Forum we encourage the member to post it, thus serving the dual purpose of real time query resolution along with posting of only relevant information on IRFCA thus adhering to the well maintained policy of self moderation.
In one of such discussions we thought that we should attempt to cover the complete Mumbai Suburban Section (wherever a local train goes) in a day's time as all of us have been through all the sections of the Mumbai Suburban section in parts but never covered it completely in a single day. Shantanu Kulkarni (KYN member) proposed 2 plans and finally we decided on a plan and the D-day decided was 17th November 2012. The plans were made by keeping in mind that most of the railfans planning to join the trip were based in eastern suburbs so the starting point was set as Dombivli. After the initial hype died down only Shantanu Kulkarni, Shardul Sabde and yours truly could make it for the final trip. We decided to take a 1st class 1 day Tourist ticket costing Rs.220 for our trip and accordingly purchased the same one day in advance. As per the plan we had to take the early morning DMU to Virar to cover Western Railway first. Since DMU tickets couldn't be purchased one day prior, we decided to buy it in the morning.
Shardul started from his house early in the morning from Ambernath (ABH) at 04:48 to reach Dombivli(DI) by 05:13. Shantanu started from Kalyan (KYN) and reached Dombivli east booking counter to buy tickets for DMU priced Rs.14 for a journey till Virar. He had to wait a good 15 minutes to reach the booking clerk; such was the crowd early on in the morning. By the time he could fetch the tickets for all three of us, I joined him and we walked leisurely to Platform no 5 awaiting DMU. The crowd had swelled by 5:30 and we were thinking if we would be able to get window seats. Railway employees special and other slow trains were making their way past us on the UP and Down Slow lines.
At 5:15 as I was approaching the station, WCAM2 hauled Indore-Pune Express was making a dash to Kalyan on 5th line. At 5:22, WCAM3 # 21882 was seen hauling Amravati Express to CSTM. Close behind it following was KYN WCAM2 #21874 with Mysore-Dadar (DR) Sharavati Express and KYN WCAM2 #21880 hauled Chennai Express. All this action meant our DMU was delayed. Finally at 5:45, it came to a stop on Pf5 and we managed to get into the 3rd coach from the Driving cab and found seats for 2 of us. Shardul decided to stand for sometime as we planned to exchange seats every few minutes. Our loco was KYN WDM2 #17735.
With a sweet horn and chug, we started our journey to slowly crossover to the 6th line and then enter the Kopar loop which has been my alma mater since I started serious railfanning. With the advent of winter, sun rise was still a few minutes away on the horizon. We had a foggy atmosphere around the Kopar Loop and made it to Kopar Upper level in a few minutes. The run to Bhiwandi Road (BIRD) over the Ulhas river bridge was with utter disdain. We clocked 90 kmph during the run. Twin TKD WAM4s were waiting with freight at BIRD in one of the platform lines. WAG7 crossed us between Kharbav and Kaman Road with container rake at good speed. Yet another Twin TKD WAM4s were spotted with freight between Juchandra and Kaman Road. We reached Vasai Road (BSR) by 6:40. The original plan was to continue in DMU up to Virar but we were anticipating return crowds at Virar in EMUs hence, we decided to alight at BSR and take an EMU in return direction and hope that it turns out to be a Churchgate (CCG) Fast local. By the time we reached Pf2 the 6:44 Virar (VR) had left. We waited for 6:48 VR and made ourselves comfortable in the First Class (FC).
At Nallasopara, Gujarat Express sped past us which we caught up with, again at VR.MEMU to Panvel was seen at Nallasopara. The VR train was scheduled as 07:11 Fast local to Churchgate (CCG). The EMU FC was full even though not to the dreaded standards of normal Virar locals being a Saturday just after Diwali. The Virar car shed has the modern look to it. Everything seems to be in place and well distributed and planned in there. A WAP4 hauled unknown express overtook us before BSR. In the south siding lines of Bhayander, we spotted a lot of old DC rakes waiting for retro fitment/scrapping.
WCAM2 with Saurashtra Mail had a sedate and parallel run with us after Dahisar. We had never experienced a Pure AC retro rake of WR and were on the look out to jump into one. Between Borivali and Kandivli we spotted 2 of them and luckily one was in a parallel run with us on the slow track. We decided to ditch our CCG fast at Bandra (BA) and hop into this AC Retro offering from WR. At 8:00 we spotted Firozpur Mumbai Janata express at Goregaon hauled by BRC WAP4 crossing us. The full covering roof design for Jogeshwari Harbour line platforms is taking shape and looks quite different from the otherwise plain vanilla design we have been accustomed to on other stations in Mumbai. We got down at Bandra and a WAP5 sped past us at 8:25 with 12952 Mumbai Rajdhani.
A CCG bound ladies special went past us and then our maiden journey in WR AC Retro (Cab 3009) from BA to CCG started. We spotted the Mumbai Veraval Rake with an inspection car at PF6 at Dadar (WR). A BRC WAP4 hauled 19215 Saurashtra Express to Porbander was waiting on PF 3 at Dadar with FC and RMS coaches. The run from Bandra to CCG was normal and we were quite happy at the speed it covered all stations. The look out into Mahalaxmi Workshop for any new or retrofitted rakes did not yield any results. The buildings on both sides of the WR lines get taller as we move from Virar to downtown Mumbai. We come across heavy construction in the Lower Parel area and some of the tallest buildings in India. Towards the end, we are running parallel to the Marine Drive, Wankhede stadium and the Gymkhanas. Saifee hospital looks a class apart in the skyline. We couldn’t help but wonder the challenges WR will face in planning the Part elevated-Part Ground and Part Underground corridor.
We reached CCG by 8:57 and went to the concourse leading to the subway to relieve our bladders. A quick bite of Vadapav at the nearby outlet and we were back to PF3 to take a Borivali (BVI) bound Fast departing at 8:57, though it departed at 9:07. Between Mahim and Bandra we spotted a WCAM1 hauled 59024 Valsad Passenger crossing us with a few Double Decker coaches. We reached Bandra by 9:26 and waited for our onward journey to CST Mumbai by a CR ACDC Retro (3025 Cab) scheduled for departure at 9:48 from Bandra Harbour line platforms. We had completed our WR part of the journey and Harbour line of CR was next on the agenda. We were given a fitting farewell by a WAP5 hauling 12954 August Kranti Rajdhani as it gave us a short parallel run between Bandra and Mahim before overtaking us. The amount of EMUs running on WR in the peak hours almost looked like bumper to bumper traffic on roads. There were simply too many of them running to keep count of. Hats off to the section controllers!
Our Harbour line journey had begun and soon the ACDC neutral zone was negotiated before King Circle as we climbed up the Flyover. Vadala Road (VDLR) entry was exciting as we were coming down the flyover; a rousing welcome was accorded by a parallel entry into PF3 and PF4 with a DC EMU from Vashi side. The DC rake went ahead. We waited for a few minutes and then started our journey to CSTM through the innumerable changes in gradient. The Port Trust land, Monorail construction, Eastern freeway, Cargo handling docks and many defunct godowns painted a mixed picture of our city. The view of the Mazgaon Reconditioning Depot from the flyover between Dockyard Road and Sandhurst Road Upper is breathtaking. Coming down the Sandhurst Road gradient to meet the Mainline CR, our retro rake was given company by a slow DC UP local along with a Fast DC UP local till Mumbai CST. We had enough slack built into our trip to ensure we don’t miss any connecting trains. We had reached CST by 10:20 and next up on the task list was the longest journey of the Harbour Line till Panvel (PNVL).
We stood at the CST Mumbai’s Suburban concourse admired the various LED panels displaying advertisements and a new cylindrical display. This same CST concourse has been witness to the first Flash Mob in a railway station in India. It was also the same concourse which witnessed the 26/11 Terror Attacks. This place is full of life, a good 5 years of my life has been spent commuting to Taj President, Mumbai from my home in Dombivli and I was reliving those moments. Every visit to CST brings out nostalgia of the days gone past.
We took the 10:41 PNVL local which was the original 9-car rake (1190 C) sent from ICF. As we departed from CST, an SCR loco with Hyderabad Mumbai was waiting in the Express platforms. A Malkapur OHE van was spotted near the Trip Shed. Nagpur Duranto with its livery in shambles on far off new platforms could be seen along with innumerable WCAM3 and WCAM2s. Entry to Masjid station was again full of entertainment with parallel action with a DC slow and a MRVC Fast local on all three tracks. The journey till PNVL is as good as the irony the city itself is. We started off on the first electrified lines between CST and Kurla(CLA). Some stations enroute look as if they are still stuck in that era. The surrounding areas of Cotton Green and Reayroad are almost defunct of activity. Large acres of land lying unused. As we separate out from VDLR onto the PNVL line, the impoverish nature of the city is all in the open with slums on both sides of the track till Chunabatti. At CLA we meet the Mainline CR for a brief period. We were halted after the Chunabatti LC gate, maybe a freighter was crossing over. Again between Kurla and Mankhurd stations we see heaps of garbage strewn all along the railway lines. Old Mankhurd station looks desolate and I am told the Mankhurd terminating locals use those platforms. After Mankhurd the crowd in our local had reduced to a good extent and we decided to stand by the door and enjoy the wind in our hair as we crossed the Mankhurd-Vashi Creek Bridge. The scenery changes drastically after the Creek and we see a New Mumbai rising along the coastline. From here on we see huge construction activities of residential and commercial nature. The stations beyond Vashi are mostly double discharge and capable of handling 12 cars. We were amazed at the number of services being run on ACDC Retro Rakes. Soon the MRVC locals will be transferred to Mainline CR (to bring KYN and DI services under AC) as more of the ACDC Retros are finding their way on the harbor line.
The Seawoods –Darave station complex work is underway and beyond Kharghar as we move away from the Thane-Panvel highway, we encounter marshy lands and our EMU took a good 90 degrees turn to reach Khandeshwar. As we approached PNVL, the Diva –Panvel Double AC Electrified line sneaked close to us on the left. We spotted a TKD WAG9 31209 waiting in one of the siding lines north of Panvel as we entered the newly built Suburban Concourse at 12.12. Across the boundary wall we could see a WR rake of Hapa-Tirunelveli Express waiting on Pf7.It was before time and cooling off for a long journey ahead.
Next on the agenda was PNVL-TNA journey, thus completing the Harbour as well as Trans-Harbour Line journey within stipulated time. This time we got a 9 car DC rake to Thane (TNA) with a scheduled departure of 12:13, though it left with a delay of 7 minutes. We traversed the same route back and crossed over to the Trans-harbour lines before Nerul (NEU) at 15kmph. The Seawoods-Uran line work still looks stagnant with no visible activity. The NEU-TNA section also has some interesting station designs. All unique in their own stature. This line runs parallel to the Thane-Belapur road and occasionally we find some spirited road travelers giving a chase to our Emu. But in all instances EMU held its Numero Uno status. I had done my engineering at Airoli and in those days it was a single line with a Millennium Parcel express being the sole traffic once a week. A lot has changed in the past 10 years. The back breaking State-Transport bus rides have given away to a mere 7-9 minute rides in EMU to Airoli. The road has also become a 4 lane Concrete highway. There are talks of a station named “Digha” coming up between Thane and Airoli, but nothing substantial can be seen on the ground. We negotiated the Horse –Shoe shaped bent to cross the Thane-Belapur Road twice in a matter of 5 minutes and then over the Thane Creek to arrive on Pf9 at Thane. This brought an end to our Trans-harbour and harbour line journey by 13:15.
Kamayani express was departing from PF7 with KYN WCAM3 # 21939 at its helm. Our original plan did not feature the Thane-Diva slow line, traversing Kalva and Mumbra. We thought our trip would be incomplete if we took the fast lines and did not see these stations go past, so we tweaked our journey schedule to include a slow train journey, just to cover this stretch. We came down the brand new Wide FOB of TNA on PF2 and decided to wait for 13:17 slow to KYN. We failed to realize that there was a 13:14 Semi fast local to Kasara (KSRA) waiting on PF5 and could have helped us save 3 minutes. We got a 12 car Dc rake as the KSRA semi fast crossed over to the slow lines before us and the Down fast line was used by a freighter from PF 7 hauled by WCAG1 #21978. A lone Asansol loco was waiting between Diva and Kopar. We reached Dombivli by 13:45, the same place where we started the journey from in the morning. By now, we were hungry and Dombivli was chosen as the exit from Pf1 leads us straight onto “Dwaraka Restaurant” which is quite popular amongst Dombivlikars. We had to save time as Mainline CR journey was yet to be accomplished.
We ordered for Meduvada, Idli Sambar, Uttapam and some Tea for rejuvenation as the Order taker said that anything else would take more time and we couldn’t waste precious time. After a high speed lunch we returned back to the railway premises to board the 14:16 CST bound 15 car fast from KYN. We saw some action at DI as the previous 13:55 fast to CST from Badlapur was delayed, it was followed by a WCAM3 hauled Howrah Mumbai. On the Down line, we spotted WCAM3 hauling Jabalpur Garib Rath Express. At 14:30 we spotted Aurangabad Janshatabdi at TNA being hauled by KYN WDM3D #11390. On our way to CST we spotted WDP4 #20059 hauling CBE-LTT express on 6th line waiting to enter LTT at Ghatkopar. At 15:05 we spotted WCAM3 leaving CST with Sewagram express. Konark express was waiting on Pf13 with a diesel link. We were slowly negotiating our entry to PF7 at 15 kmph and spotted Nandigram on Pf8 and Cape Kanyakumari Express on Pf9. We were back to CST having covered some portion of CR.
Now 2 epic EMU journeys awaiting us were trips to Khopoli and Kasara. We couldn’t help but traverse the journey back to Dombivli (the 3rd time in the day as nothing else could fit the train linkages). After a short break of 15 minutes, we were back on PF6 to get into 15:25 Khopoli fast which was a 12 car MRVC rake. Pf5 had a DC rake which was announced as cancelled, which was quite unusual for this time of the day. Shantanu brought to our notice that today’s Ratnagiri-Dadar passenger was short terminated at Diva and probably this DC rake would run as a Dadar-Diva Special local for the commuters bound Dadar-Ratnagiri which would now run as Diva-Ratnagiri Passenger. The DC rake was given a go-ahead and we followed it. As we entered Dadar PF4, we spotted the DC rake berthed on PF5 and designated to run up to Dombivli to help the cause of the stranded passengers at Dadar and Thane. I was extremely sleepy and couldn’t control and dozed off for a few minutes between Dadar and Mulund. At 16:10 as we were leaving Thane, WCAM3 hauled Godan Express was making a quite entry into Pf8. As we passed the Parsik tunnel approached Diva on Down fast track, 16522R was spotted as the power of the incoming Ratnagiri Passenger stabled on Pf6. We also spotted 2 light locos Pune WDM3A-18688R and KYN WDM-3D #11391 at Diva outer. 16346 Netravati Expresses from TVC stealthily passed behind the Ratnagiri Passenger to join the Mainline at 16:20.
We were admitted on Pf5 at KYN after 2 unscheduled halts between DI and KYN. The 15 car rake which had ran ahead of us was waiting for departure to Dadar from PF6. Our run from KYN to ABH was very slow. We crawled through the DC-AC Neutral Zone beyond KYN on South-East line at extremely reduce speeds. Shantanu explained us that controls in MRVC rakes have been designed in such a fashion that it will never stall in NZ even though we might almost feel that we would stall any moment considering the loss in momentum. We spotted a Barbie Doll livery loco hauling steel freight. The news of ShivSena Chief, Bal Thackeray’s demise had trickled to us via SMS. Parents & friends were all urging us to abandon the trip midway and return back home ASAP. They said that auto-rickshaws and taxis had stopped plying and shops had already downed their shutters. Shardul had noted that stalls on the stations were also non –operational at KYN. We were getting a feeling of “so close, yet so far” as the only legs pending were Khopoli and Kasara. We decided that we will proceed to Khopoli and return back to Kalyan by the same EMU as scheduled but will take a final call to go to Kasara after checking the ground realities at KYN late in the evening. The run from Ambernath to Karjat (KJT) was amazing with frequent clocking of 100kmph between stations. Only one set of Triplet bankers were awaiting in the sidings at KJT for 16381 Cape Kanyakumari Express. As we made our journey on the single electrified one train section of CR between KJT and Khopoli, we saw Deccan express coming down the Ghats. The 8 minute delay we had picked up on the way stayed with us still Khopoli. The stations were minimalistic and the run was not exceeding 60kmph. Some stabling line OHE work can be seen at Khopoli but it will take years before we see them active.
Return journey to KYN from Khopoli had to be on time as we were running the risk of losing our connecting Kasara fast from Kalyan had our EMU become late by more than 10 minutes. Also the fear of backlash in Mumbai sighting the demise was looming large on our plans. We decided to hope for the best. Shantanu suggested that we board the middle FC so that crossing the FOB at KYN would be easy if we fall short of time. We started on time but lost 4 minutes at KJT for Pragati Express hauled by WCAM2 to crossover from PNVL-KJT line. At Bhivpuri road, Deccan Queen crossed us in full glory. We reached Neral Jn at 18:45 against the scheduled arrival of 18:39. Our prospects of catching the KSRA local were diminishing and the pressure from family to abandon the trip was increasing as they were in the eye of the storm.
We reached KYN at 19:23 against the scheduled time of 19:17 on PF6. Shardul announced that Panchvati Express was snaking its way out of PF4 and KJT local had already been received on PF5. We climbed the Middle FOB in anticipating of catching the 19:27 KSRA from PF4. The FOB was choc-a-bloc with commuters waiting for next scheduled train on PF4. As soon as the indicators announced the next train, the entire crowd started marching down the stairs to catch our train. At 19:32 KSRA EMU a BHEL rake as wished by Shardul made its entry and we made a desperate attempt to get in and secure our last leg of the journey. Thankfully all of us were accommodated by the mighty BHEL rake and we started at 19:37. After Shahad and Titvala, there was enough space for us to relax near the window of our choice. We had tried scouting for food on stations enroute but to no avail. We had carried some snacks in our backpacks and that came to our rescue. The temperature was dropping as we were going up the gradient. We encountered a long TSR of almost a KM enroute and with darkness outside, we couldn’t see much. We did stand by the door for some time to enjoy the innumerable curves in this section. We did come across a few UP trains to CST hauled by WCAM3s. The two halt stations Thansit and Umarmalli were provided brief halts. The destination Kasara was finally transcended with a delay of 14 minutes. Our EMU came to a halt on the lone EMU platform with a scheduled layover of 40 minutes before commencing on our return journey by the same EMU. Even though the return journey was pending, technically we had travelled through all the stations of Mumbai. (Wherever the local train goes as on date)
We crossed to the M/E platforms to scot for tea, but were left disappointed. With a few minutes to evade at Kasara, we went to see the banker attachment for the Rajyarani Express which still lacks commuter confidence. It was sparsely populated. Soon we retuned back to our BHEL rake and this time decided to board the 2nd class Motor coach to hear the roaring of the motors. We left at 21.22 and Vidharbha express made a roaring entry to Kasara followed by amazing braking to come to a halt. We saw the mangled remains of the driving cab coach still lying close to the tracks near Umarmalli. We had some high speed crossings. Between Khardi and Atgaon, we crossed Punjab Mail. At Atgaon, Nagpur Duranto went past us. Amravati express went past us at Asangaon and Jyanjeshwari at Vasind. Howrah mail went past us at Titvala.
At KYN, Shantanu and Shardul got down and I continued by way back home to DI. I got down at DI at 22:45 and luckily got a Call Center cab that was ready to take the risk of transporting stranded commuters at the station. Within 15 minutes, I was home and after ensuring that everyone had reached home safely, we called it a Day.
We don’t know if anyone has ever attempted this kind of a journey covering all the local stations in a day before but I must admit it was a great journey of a different kind. I am sure others can attempt this journey but the starting point and EMU connections are very important to know if an attempt has to be made.
I would like to thank you all for a patient reading. Do bring to notice if you come across any mistakes. Like always, brickbats, criticism and appreciation, all welcome.
