NZM-ERS in 2432 TVC Rajdhani Exp!!!

Finally the morning of Aug 31 came for which the wait seemed to be like ages. It was the very same day when I was to take 2432 Nizamuddin-Trivendrum Rajdhani Express for my journey from NZM to Ernakulam. The train was scheduled to depart from NZM at 1100 hrs. Thanks to the Sunday morning traffic of Delhi, I reached NZM at around0945 hrs. From the enquiry(Sarai Kale Khan side) I enquired about the pf and the lady answered pf 5. As I was descending the stairs of pf 5, Hirakund Exp bound for VSKP made a steady exit from pf 5. Pf 6 was occupied by Bhopal Exp and KSK was in Pf 7. Few minutes later the Bhopal Exp was shunted out. The rush on the station was reasonable considering the measures like "Not issuing the pf tickets" were in place.

At 0955 hrs, 22540 WAP4 of BRC also Rajhans brought in BDTS-NZM GR at pf 6. To see such a beautiful loco first up, I thought an ominous sign before the mammoth 42 hrs journey!! The A5 of TVC Raj was supposed to be at the end, and as I later turned out, our coach was third from the end. I was wishing that we will get a non-airtel rake. All my wishes came down to a crash landing when I spotted an Airtel Rajdhani rake making slow progress towards NZM from NDLS side. I don't know why but somehow I forgot to note down the road number of the loco. But it was customary WAP 4 of BRC. The rake was 17 coach, first time I had been inside such a looong Rajdhani rake.

The rake was Loco-EOG-B1 to B8-PC-A1 to A5-H1-EOG.

Now a few things about the airtel rake….
1) Neat red carpeting near the main door as well as over the interconnection between bogies.
2) Room freshner (2 or 3 nos) in each coach.
3) Liquid soap in the wash basin and in the toilet.
4) 6 odd safaiwalas for the whole train.
5) Airtel ads and airtel pamphlets inside the train.
6) Vinyl coating outside.

Airtel has got nothing to do with rest of the services except for payment. BUT these airtel stickers on the rake completely take away the charm of sitting in the Rajdhani. The imposing livery of Raj was much better than this idiotic idea. The concept would have been much much better had they spared the windows. Well, we moved out of NZM and it was a brisk exit. We quickly accelerated to good speeds after TKD. Kindly bear with me for not mentioning the speeds (100kmph, 130 kmph etc) as I was not having any tool nor am I expert in guessing speeds. But when I say very high speed, I really mean it!! 1135 hrs, we crossed Jhelum Exp at a station.(AST I think). At 1140, a GR sped towards NZM.

I was surprised when at 1235 hrs we crossed MTJ Goods cabin!! I expected MTJ some 15-20 min later. We made a 1 min halt there. 27110 Ajni WAG7 led freight was in the station. As we accelerated out of MTJ, I grew curious as it was the first time that I was going towards Bharatpur instead of AGC!!! It felt good to say bye bye to AGC bound tracks. At 1300 hrs we crossed Bharatpur. Lunch was served just after that and it was very good. After my harrowing experience in BSP Rajdhani this came as a pleasant surprise. On the visibility from inside, it is reduced and it takes time to adjust. For the start the view from the opposite window was better than my own window!!! Till 1400 hrs the excellent high speed run continued. At 1405 hrs, we crossed Gangapur city. At 1525 hrs we crossed a three AC coach train headed by a WAP4. The run was really awesome.


1529 hrs, we rached Kota and were taken in pf 2. A train was exiting from pf 3, but I don't rcollect its whereabouts now. Spotted twin RTM diesels strolling light and the JS rake. We were in Kota till 1550 and it felt nice to climb down on the pf and have a walk!! An hour later I went to the gate to enjoy the speedy run. One thing tht I noted was that the distance between the up and down tracks is very large and that too for very long distance. No complaints however as it offers a very good view of trains going in opposite directions. It was a real good experience to be in the unexplored territory. We crossed Nagda and then came the Chmbal river!! It came quite unnoticed and unexpectedly!! In the AGC-GWL section, it is sandwitched between the famous Chambal ghats but here it just came. The speed limit over Chambal bridge is 120 kmph. We crossed Ratlam nonstop and met Swaraj (bound for Delhi). It was headed by a BRC WAP4.

As the sun made its exit for the day, I too went inside. H journey till now was really memorable and the train live dupto its reputation for nonstop high speed run. After dinner, I laid down in my berth waiting for BRC. We reached BRC at 2230. That was when I came across the sight for which I was waiting for ages!! The sight of a WCAM!! And the one I saw was WCAM2P which came in just after us with the AK Raj at the pf adjacent to us. The roaring of the generators of both the trains was something too much for the ears!! At 2246 we moved out of BRC and BRC-Mumbai SF was in another pf led by blue coloured DC loco 21813 (not sure) was its number.

After a wonderful day in the TVC Raj I thought of having a good sleep… afterall it was my only journey which was going to last 2 nights!!And not to mention the excitement of seeing KR next morning… Last thing I wanted was to miss the first glimpse of the majestic KR!!! Let me take the moment to thank IRFCA members for reminding me what to notice… I tried my best to catch a glimpse of as many beautiful sights I could but frankly speaking everything that came my way kept me hooked and all of it looked so special!!

It was at 05.40 AM when I woke up and we were at Panvel. Half an hour off the scheduled time but who minds..:-). And surprisinglythe morning tea was served!!1 Ay any standards 5.30 AM is too early to serve the morning tea!!! Well no worries…. I enjoyed the unfolding beauty from my seat only for sometimes and after half an hour or so I went to the gate…. I was really thrilled at the feeling of going through one of the most majestic terrains on IR. The first station that came to my sight was ROHA and few minutes later a board welcomed me into KR!!

As the time progressed we were swallowed in tunnels and our time inside the tunnels kept on increasing!!! I mean these are really hugeeee tunnels!!! It takes soo much time to cross them.. A WDMX in front, then an EOG and the roar of an EOG just one coach later inside a tunnel that lasts for over a couple of minutes is something I had never experienced before!!! The smell of diesel coming out brings a somewhat scary feelings!! Many many a times it felt like is there going to be light again or will we be in this darkness only!! And amazingly one after the other tunnels… ohh my God I just cant imagine how they dared to build such a route…

As I have freshly become an Engg, and tht too a civil engg my mind just couldn’t cease to admire the executors of this project…. Sucha difficult terrain and add to it the excessive seepage!!! I have never seen seepage earlier nor I could have imagined that it could be that heavy!!! I mean at some places it was as heavy as rains… It would have surely been a worthy effort to build all the water-drainage systems… All the tunnels were generally unlined.. (most of them.. kindly confirm).. and at least thrice I saw the tunnel preceeded by a waterfall…. There were so many tunnels and they continued till the evening and into the night as well till I went inside!!!

At 1100 hrs we started from Ratnagiri and were held up at Sangameshwar road for crossing of LTT bound GR. The best part of many stations of KR is there are tunnel on both the ends of many of them!!! A good sight to see the train coming out of it…1200 hrs.. we were held up again at Vilavade for crossing of LTT bound Netravati Exp. We were again held up at 1229 hrs and 1405 hrs, the latter for freinght crossing. We waited for JS at Kudal.

1508 hrs we waited at Sawantwadi Road for Marusagar Exp. I liked these crossings. Feels good inbetween to see people between tunnels!!! By now I was desperately waiting for Madgaon to come!! I was kinda bored from the tunnels…. We finally reached Madgaon and I again had a light stroll in the pf. The pf was crowded and we left from there at 1640 hrs a good 2 hrs behind schedule!!!
The run through the rest of the evening is something that I would never forget. The terrain is soooo beautiful.. I love the sights and sounds of the loco.. the smoke the lush greenery, the surroundings… all contributed to an arresting atmosphere… really it was the run of my life.. the best ever I had till date… Mild rains added to the charm and the tunnels that came now felt even more refreshing… the road that follows the track, the houses.. the fields… occasional bridges.. the setting was really superb./… even the stations that came.. Kanute, Karwar etc… I liked them a lot…

After it was dark and it was clear that nothing will be visible I went inside…. Actually we were held in a stn at 1920 for 20 min or so… The delay in reaching udupi means dinner was delayed as the PC staff informed that Rotis (Paranthas) are to be loaded from Udupi. With the beautiful sights and long tunnels still in my mind, I again went to sleep as I had to get up early morning and prepare myself for a grueling day in the refinery!!

When I got up in the morning we were at Thrissur. We were late by an hour or so while reaching ERS, Ernakulam Jn. We were taken in pf1 and we crossed non-stop through Aluva, Angamali for Kaladi and Ernakulam Town (ERN). Can somebody enlighten me why is a “for” inbetween “Angamali” and “Kaladi”? What dose these words mean?

All in all my longest journey in TVC Rajdhani from NZM to ERS was a very enthralling and memorable experience. A high speed non-stop electric run under wires on day 1 and a scenic ride amid mountains ravines and clouds with a smoke on a single line on day 2. For me the two diametrically opposite types of run and I got full experience of both in the same journey. Forgot to mention the Karbude Tunnel and Panval viaduct!! Well Karbude tunnel was just tooooooooo looong….. It literally felt like there is not gonna b day again!!!


I would really like to share the group that I am enjoying Kerela to the fullest. The state is really really beautiful and Kochhi I find the city as very serene, easy paced. But it closes too early (before 8 pm) and the buses really run like they are going to kill u!!! But for the scenic beauty I am really enjoying it. Its one month here and I am having an experience of a lifetime.

Well thanks a lot for patient reading.