April
2013
Once
in a life time opportunity was missed due to controllers at my work place. A
visit to NFR with my friends was missed and I was planning for such a long trip
from then. It never worked out until this year.
March
2014
Santhosh
came up with a circular plan to Kolkata and Delhi, I decided to join him.
Few people in Bangalore were informed and Rohit was the only one who agreed.
The dates for the trip were decided to be during June/July. After few days
Rohit suggested me to alter the plans so that few MG sections can be covered as
well. The immediate zone that came into my find was NFR. It was soon dropped
due to difference of opinion. The next options were WR, NWR and NER. It was
getting difficult to get any of these MG sections into Kolkata trip so I decided
to make a new plan to cover all the 3 zones. Looking at the trains, I decided
that going via Western railway would be the best choice. So the final plan
turned out to be like this
Bangalore – Ahmedabad ( BG )
Ahmedabad – Mehasana - Ahmedabad(
MG)
Ahmedabad – Udaipur ( MG )
Udaipur – Jaipur ( BG )
Jaipur – Sikar – Jaipur ( MG )
Jaipur – Delhi ( BG )
Delhi – Bareilly ( BG )
Bareilly – Lucknow ( MG )
Lucknow – Jhansi ( BG)
Jhansi – Chennai ( BG )
Chennai – Bangalore ( BG )
I
spoke with Santhosh and Rohit about this and they agreed to it. Nihkil Kumar
also agreed to join us on seeing the MG sections. Since this was the first time
for 2 of us and the hectic schedule added to it, we decided to book in AC. Nihkil who is not
comfortable with AC decided to go with Sleeper. The sum of individual tickets seemed
bit high and we were thinking about some alternatives. Since the route appeared
circular, we decided go for the circular tickets which would atleast save us
2000. We went to Bangalore station to get some details about the rules of
circular tickets. The lady in charge on that day confirmed that this is eligible
for circular tickets and the ticket will be issued only a day before the 60 day ARP
(Advance reservation period) opens. It was decided to start the trip in the
last of week of June to avoid the extreme summer in India. Going through the
rules online from official site confirmed that we can book in 3AC and then
2AC/FC in MG trains by paying excessive fare. This was confirmed by our good friend
from Chennai, The Foodie Express ‘AG’ (Ashwin Gandhi). The day of booking
neared and we decided to have a word at Bangalore to know the exact rate for
our tickets. We 3 went for 3AC while Nikhil settled for sleeper circular
ticket. When I started explaining about the change of higher class for MG, a
big NO came back. I was then advised to meet supervisor to get the
confirmation, i got the same response. I explained them that the rule has
changed and tickets can be booked. I requested them to check the rule again and
the supervisor increased his voice in front of the everyone that I was an idiot who
knows nothing and to stop arguing with him who is working there from 15 years and
knows everything. I replied back with the same tone that I will prove that he was wrong in this case. I called AG and asked him to send me a photocopy of his
ticket where he had paid the difference of fare to travel in higher category of
train. AG sent me that and then I decided to meet the chief supervisor instead
of the supervisor. The chief supervisor was a lady that day.
Me
: Mam, I need to book a circular ticket for the following routes
Supervisor
: Please go to ground floor for this
Me
: I came here to have a confirmation about my doubt
Supervisor
: Yes, tell me
Me
: I am planning to take 3AC circular ticket but I will be needing higher class
ticket in 2 trains.
Supervisor
: A big no, it’s not possible. Why don’t you book in sleeper class for those 2 trains?
Me
: I am not interested in that. I am asking you this since the rule form the
official site clearly stated that this is possible.
Supervisor
: Give the train numbers for that section, let me have a look.
I
give them the numbers and the system is not showing anything to proceed
further.
Supervisor
: Didn’t I tell you that it’s not possible.
Me
: ( I immediately take out the copy given by AG – photocopy of original ticket
along with Excessive fare ticket ) Look here mam, this is possible and here is
a proof.
She
looks at it for few minutes…
Supervisor
: Wait for few minutes, I will come back.
She
goes inside and has a look at the rules. She also speaks with few people and
comes out.
Supervisor
: Yes, this is possible.
Me
: Thank you mam and we will come on the day of booking for this.
We
then leave the place.
The quotas for the trains decided does not look good and we decided to do
Bangalore Ahmedabad via Mumbai. Few days later Rohit and Santhosh go for
booking the circular ticket as I was busy that day at my work place. A new
trouble starts, the lady in charge for that day is not agreeing for
the circular ticket and asking us to reduce the locations as only 8 breaks can
be provided. Rohit calls me and explains the situation. The only option left
for us is to take a direct train from Lucknow to Bangalore. An hour of tension
and the final plan selected was
·
11014
Coimbatore – Lokmanya Tilak Express from Bangalore to Mumbai. ( 3AC – Day 1 )
·
12901
Gujarat Mail from Mumbai to Ahmedabad ( 3AC – Day 2)
·
19944
Ahmedabad Udaipur MG Express from Ahmedabad to Udaipur ( 2AC – Day 3)
·
19666
Udaipur Khajuraho Express from Udaipur to Jaipur ( 3AC – Day 4 )
·
19105
Ahmedabad Haridwar Mail from Jaipur to Delhi ( 3AC – Day 5 )
·
14258
Kashi Vishwanath Express from Delhi to Barielly ( 3AC – Day 6 )
·
15307
Nainital MG Express from Barielly to Lucknow ( FC – Day 6 )
·
12540
Lucknow Yesvantpur Express from Lucknow to Bangalore ( 3AC – Day 7 )
All
the tickets were booked on the respective opening day of these trains. We were
just waiting for the days to run by to start this exciting trip. In the meantime,
we gathered ideas from the railfans of these locations. Everyone dropped in
their ideas and it will be very helpful during the trip. We decided to book
retiring room for 12 hours at 3 locations Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Lucknow. To our
luck, we were able to book only at Ahmedabad and Lucknow as Jaipur option was
not available during booking. Ahmedabad one was for 24 hours as 12 hours was
not available.
20th
June 2014
With
just 8 days to start our trip, we got a shocking news that Ahmedabad Udaipur
train has been cancelled from 30th June (The day on which we had
booked to travel). It is partially cancelled between Himatnagar and
Udaipur due to Monsoon. The passenger train was not cancelled and we decided to
take that but later dropped it as it was full unreserved train. Now the only
option available was to take a bus. I was against night travel in bus as sleep
will be a problem for me. The 24hrs booking for retiring room at Ahmedabad came
as a blessing and the plan changed, Stay at Ahmedabad during night and take a bus
in the morning to Udaipur.
25th
June 2014
I
still had hopes that we will cover that route and somehow the person above will
help us. I was checking daily from 21st to check if the train is
made to run on 30th. As usual I opened the reservation page on the
official site and checked for the availability. I was surprised to find
reservation available for the Fast passenger which was not there few days back.
A quick call to others and we decided to book it. The ticket was successfully
booked by evening.
27th
June 2014
Just
24 hours left for the trip as I write this. Feeling very excited as I will get to see cute
YDM4’s in different uniforms for the first time. Thanks to all the railfans who
helped us with their valuable information for this trip.
11014
Coimbatore – Lokmanya Tilak Express from Bangalore to Mumbai. ( 3AC – 28th June )
·
12901
Gujarat Mail from Mumbai to Ahmedabad ( 3AC – 29th June)
· 52928
Ahmedabad Udaipur MG Passenger from Ahmedabad to Udaipur ( SL – 1 July)
·
19666
Udaipur Khajuraho Express from Udaipur to Jaipur ( 3AC – 1st July )
·
19105
Ahmedabad Haridwar Mail from Jaipur to Delhi ( 3AC – 2nd July )
·
14258
Kashi Vishwanath Express from Delhi to Barielly ( 3AC – 3rd July )
·
15307
Nainital MG Express from Barielly to Lucknow ( FC – 3rd July )
·
12540
Lucknow Yesvantpur Express from Lucknow to Bangalore ( 3AC – 4th July )
To be continued…….
Started from home around 8:00 AM to Bengaluru city to have a glimpse of the decorated Loco for Tumakuru Passenger. On reaching the station, there were no signs of the loco and it was also confirmed by fellow rail fan Nihkil who was waiting for me. We took Bengaluru Tumakuru Passenger that departs at 09:20 AM to Yesvantpur to have a look at the siutation there. On reaching we got to meet the unique WAP1 named Jawahar. Then from the yard side we saw a decorated train coming towards platform 6. It was the loco and the 2 DEMU's for the inaugural runs. After inspecting the decorated DEMU, we went towards the Loco to be surprised again. The rake of Bengaluru - Tumakuru was already coupled to the loco and we were also informed that all the trains will start from Platform 6. We then went around clicking pictures and by 12, Nelamanga DEMU was given clearance and we departed Yesvantpur. After getting down at Soldevanahalli and waving good bye to DEMU, we waited for Bengaluru - Tumakuru inugural passenger. The train finally came after 20 minutes at Full MPS and it went out of sight in no time. It was time for home. Pictures and Video from the event an be seen below. Do leave your comments and suggestions below..
