A sleep of just 6 hours isn't sufficient when I'm waking up
to on a normal day, but I thank all gods if I manage to get a brief nap of
"4-5 hours" when I'm waking up on a day when I have a train journey
on the early in the morning. I experienced that couple of days before, as I was
boarding my favorite train, Bengaluru City Rajdhani Express bound for Capital,
however this time, it was totally different. I was all set to land my foot in
the King of Indian Railways, the train which touches the maximum speed in
India. Yes, it was the time for 12002 New Delhi- Bhopal Hababganj Shatabdi
Express, and I just overworked the previous day, hoping that I'd fall asleep.
On the journey days, I don't even need an alarm
for waking up, but just as a precautionary measure and to be on the safer side,
I had set the alarm for 05:00 AM sharp, considering I'll have enough time for
getting ready and have the maximum permissible sleep. As I was totally worked
up, I could get a sleep somewhere close to 22:30 the previous night, and I was
wide awake at 03:40, and yes, I tried to recall the dream I just had. It was
related to the Bhopal Shatabdi, however I couldn't recall much better than
that.
As I checked my phone, the clock was ticking very
slow and seeing it was just 03:40, I randomly started messaging people, who
were yet to sleep. They were all about to hit their sack, I wished them a good
night and it was 05:00 when I got myself ready.
I moved out of my abode at 05:05, and I reached
the platform by 05:30 as I had a samosa, all washed down by a cuppa. I noticed
the coach marker boards, they were already displaying the coach positions of
the rake which I was about to board. I stood at my coach position number and as
the formality at New Delhi goes, the power of the train itself brings down the
rake to platform from the yard. There were foreign tourists visiting Agra.
There were school children, who spread the news papers they bought from their
homes. Teaches were guiding them to spread the new papers on the platforms and
they were made to sit according to their divisions.
Locomotive homed at Ghaziabad, WAP 5, with road
number 30023 brought our rake on to the platform 1 of the capital station of
India, and foreign tourists welcomed it with flashes of their cameras. RPF
available there gave a quick reprimand, to be on safer side, I shot the video
of train entering the platform without grabbing the attention of
anyone. I wanted to check my seat direction, whether it would be towards
locomotive or the other side. The last two times I boarded
this particular class, I was assigned a seat which wasn't facing
loco, which meant I had to negotiate with co-passengers so that I could feel
the journey.
To my surprise, when I actually checked my
designated place, I was facing the locomotive itself and the window seat was on
to the right hand side, which is a paradise for all the railfans. Fully charged
up me, updated my fellow railfans regarding the same and they wished me a happy
and comfy journey. The coach was made in the year 1999, which meant strong
vibrations and jerks sent down by the loco pilot were on the cards. No matter
how smooth you would want the ride to be, I prefer a train ride with jerks and
vibrations to get the feel of the speed.
The maintenance was on the top notch, after all it was the first Shatabdi
Express of India and the one which cruises at 150 KMPH, flat. I just went on to
the platform, cleaned my window with previous days handkerchief so that I could
make a full journey video of this particular train.
The clock was ticking towards the scheduled
departure time and no sooner the clock hit 06:00, there was a faint honk,
cruising through the window pane to hit my ear drums and I could sense the
train moving.
**ILLUSION**
The honk was real, but the train didn't actually
move. I understood my excitement and finally it was 06:01, when my train
started moving. Clearing the points at a decent speed, the chief gave a honk, which
was faintly audible because of the vibrations the coach started making.
However, that was the last time I heard the honk of the particular loco before
getting down at Bhopal was before the train charged up to 70 KMPH. Within no
time, we skipped Tilak Bridge at 90 KMPH. Yes I switched on the GPS and I was
tracking the speed upto Agra Cantonment.
We respected the speed restriction at Hazrat
Nizamuddin and then the loco accelerated more confidently. The vibrations were
getting more and more as we hit the higher speed. There were not many jerks
until then but no sooner the tea kit was served, I was mentally prepared for
some strong jerks as the coach was pretty old. I carefully started hot water in
the cup and then it came! JERK! JERK! Half of the people in the coach have
successfully put the hot water on their thighs and couple of children started
crying. Sometimes, being a railfan gives you additional advantages and
anticipating the jerks is no excuse.
We were cruising at 110 KMPH and Tuglakabad was
skipped. Faridabad was a matter of 120 and the brakes were slammed. Yes, we
came to screeching halt, just before Faridabad New Town and I then realized
that 150 show would be delayed. My friends started making fun of it but that
was worth a delay.
I did experience a train accelerating directly to 150 KMPH
from idle and there was no looking back. The loco pilots were stuck at 145 KMPH
for quite a while and by the time we entered Asaoti, the Bhopal Shatabdi
Express was in its full glory! The Shahenshah of Indian Railways, finally gave
me something which I could never forget! My mind had started imagining how it'd
be if I was on the platform of Asaoti but before I even completed imagining it,
the train was slight shot into Palwal and I just experienced what it is like to
cruise like a tracer of a bullet.
We crossed innumerable trains when we were at high speed and I could identify
only a few of them. Grand Trunk Express, Late running Bengaluru City Rajdhani
Express, Andhra Pradesh Express and Mumbai Central Rajdhani Express were the
few I could identify.
Rundhi, Sholaka, Hodal were the few stations I remember which we hit full tilt
and there were few unnamed stations, which might have been stations like
Banchari. At Kosi Kalan, we overtook Firozpur Mumbai (CST) Punjab Mail at full
tilt. Needless to mention, Chata, Ajhai were dealt with nothing less than
ruthlessness.
Mighty King of Indian Railways was being throttled at 150
KMPH, with the full flow and sometimes, when I saw the rake ahead of my coach
in a curve, the curve was negotiated much sooner than expected, giving me a
nauseating feel. Traveling in normal trains usually reminded me of the
classical test match cricket played by Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar.
Traveling in Bengaluru City Rajdhani couple of days ago reminded me of the way
Virat Kohli, Gautam Gambhir play cricket. And traveling in Bhopal Shatabdi
Express reminded me of some blitzkriegj batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Chris
Gayle and Adam Gilchrist. Comparing Cricket and Railways isn't apt, but sometimes
you get the similar feel.
Vrindaban Road was taken at full 150 KMPH and it was at
Virandaban Road outer, we crossed Capital bound Bengaluru City Rajdhani Express
which crossed me at a span of just 7 seconds. Relative speed was close to 270
KMPH and I was totally out of world, seeing my favorite train pass at 270 KMPH!
We slowed down at Bhuteshwar and we came to screeching halt at Mathura, where
breakfast was served. Fresh and soft slices of brown bread with butter along
with piping hot veg cutlet. Bandra Mumbai Garib Rath was waiting on platform 3
with a WAP 5 class locomotive homed at Vadodara. Yes that particular WAP 5 was
one among very few branded locomotive, endorsing the AMUL design on its sides.
We departed Mathura bang on time and I head towards the door, trying my luck in
getting it opened. I directly contacted the coach attendant, who obliged my
request of opening the door, despite having standing instructions of not
opening the door when the train was at full tilt. Although he allowed me, I
just peeped out for couple of seconds and shut the door. The wind was never
more fiercer. In fact I was scared of the tiny dust particles which would hit
my face at 150 KMPH if I continued to stay on the door and hence, to prevent
from being damaged, I decided to come back and enjoy the speed from the
confines of a coach itself.
We came to a screeching halt, once again, in a no mans land. And this was
getting better. Yet another 0-150 raw acceleration by a WAP 5 and I didn't miss
out making a video of the same as it was not quite common.
We crossed Tamil Nadu Express somewhere after Raja ki Mandi and 75% of people
in my coach got down at Agra, and it was the end of one of the memorable part
of journey in a train.
A train journey was never more faster than this.
