Like a Tracer of a Bullet.

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.

Video Compilation: Habibganj Shatabdi New Delhi-Agra Compilation [HD]