New Delhi - Agra Trip Report.
DAY 1:

Mumbai to New Delhi by 2951Dn Mumbai Rajdhani Express.


I reached Mumbai Central station at exactly 4pm where I was supposed to meet Gopal Ayyar. After meeting Gopal, we proceeded to Platform No. 3 from where the 2951 Dn Mumbai Rajdhani Express was scheduled to depart. We walked all the way till the end of the platform just in time to see the Rajdhani rake being shunted in. The rake had one regular and one Shatabdi coloured power car. Just then, we saw a WCAM 2P loco no. 21880 coming out of the Mumbai Central trip shed. This was the loco, which hauled the train till Vadodara. After clicking a few snaps, I bid farewell to Gopal and boarded my coach no. AS5 which was seventh from the engine. I had been allotted a lower berth, which meant that I got a window seat.

The train started exactly at 4:55pm from Mumbai Central. It maintained a steady pace of around 60-70 kmph till Virar. As soon as we crossed Virar, the train speeded up. It was racing at around 110-120 kmph till we reached Saphale. Then it suddenly slowed down to a crawl. I looked out of the window to see a board indicating a speed limit of 10kmph. This was for the Betegaon bridge which had collapsed during the heavy rains sometime back. The bridge is now temporarily supported on metal blocks and pillars. Western Railway uses a technique called piloting for running trains over the bridge. A WCAM1 loco is run just a few meters ahead of the train and the train follows the loco at a speed of 10kmph. This is done to determine if there are any abnormalities in the bridge/tracks. The Rajdhani crawled at 10kmph till the entire rake crossed the bridge. It then accelerated to 120kmph and maintained the speed till we reached the outskirts of Vadodara.

I got down at Vadodara and walked to the front end of the train just in time to see the WCAM 2P loco being uncoupled. The loco left the platform and in the distance I could make out the cabin lights of a WAP5 loco. Within a couple of minutes, the WAP5 no. 30006 arrived. This was the first time I had seen a WAP5 loco. It looked so neat and compact. Although I had seen the pictures on IRFCA, it was a different experience altogether seeing it with my own eyes. The driver-cab looked quite spacious with comfortable seating and legroom for the drivers. The cab had a concealed CFL lamp as opposed to an ordinary incandescent light bulb in other locos on the IR. The hum of the blowers was also slightly different (higher pitched) as compared to other electric locos. I saw it being coupled to the Rajdhani rake and then proceeded towards my coach. The train started on time and crawled at around 20kmph till it crossed the various points and crossings near Vadodara station. As soon as it cleared all the points, the driver started accelerating. Within a couple of minutes, we were blasting away at a terrific speed. The WAP5 has the best acceleration amongst all the electric locos I have observed. In exactly 5 minutes, the train settled at a constant speed, which I could not make out from the air-conditioned compartment. So, I came out and stood near the doors. The pattern of the noise of the wheels on the rails was something I had never heard. It was definitely going a lot faster than it was in the Virar- Vadodara section. I then concluded that it was travelling at a speed of 125-130 kmph. I sat at my berth trying hard to look out of the window into the darkness to make some sense of the speed, but in vain. The train maintained a constant speed of 130kmph for 20-25 minutes after which I decided to go to sleep.

I woke up just as the train pulled into Kota. After a 10 minute halt at Kota, we again started at a constant speed of around 120 kmph. The train maintained its pace all the way upto Mathura Jn. Here, much to my surprise, the Rajdhani halted for 5 minutes. Now, as far as I know and also according to the Time-Table, the 2951 does not have a scheduled halt at Mathura Jn. Can anybody throw some light on this??? Anyway, as soon as we started from Mathura, I was excited at the prospect of seeing the Rajdhani speeding in the much debated - FASTEST Mathura to Faridabad section. However, I was disappointed as the train hardly crossed 90-100kmph in the section. After Palwal, the train merely crawled at a speed of 40-50 kmph. It halted for around 5 minutes just after Hazrat Nizamuddin and again near Tilak Bridge station. Finally, the train pulled into New Delhi station platform no. 7, ten minutes late.


DAY 2:

New Delhi to Sahibabad by EMU

I had to meet a friend at Sahibabad, which is just outside the Delhi-UP border. I boarded a New Delhi Ghaziabad EMU. One thing I noticed about the NR EMUs is that they are extremely dirty with people littering and smoking without a care in the world. Anyway, the train arrived and started from New Delhi station on time. It maintained a steady speed of around 70 kmph till we arrived at the Yamuna river bridge where the speed dropped to 20kmph. The Yamuna river bridge is very old and rusty. The scary part was that the bridge made strange creaking noises as the train was passing over it. I am surprised that they dont build a new bridge, as this is a trunk route. I spotted a New Delhi-Aligarh EMU on this route. Now, this was not even a MEMU, but an ordinary EMU. I wonder how people travel that far without toilets in the train.

On my way back, I spotted the Sampoorna Kranti Express hauled by a WAM4P loco. I returned to New Delhi station and spent a while there spotting the Mumbai Amritsar Golden Temple Mail hauled by a BRC WAP4 loco.


DAY 3:

Trainspotting at New Delhi station:


I reached New Delhi station at around 9:15 am. Just wandered around for half an hour till I heard the announcement regarding the Kolkata Rajdhani Express. I saw the Kolkata Rajdhani arrive on time hauled by a WAP5. After spending a few minutes there, I saw the Mumbai Rajdhani arrive on platform no. 6 ten minutes late again!!!

During that hour and a half I saw the Bhubaneshwar and Sealdah Rajdhani arrive hauled by a Kanpur and Howrah based WAP4 loco respectively. The Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani had the newer 225xx series WAP4 loco, which has Dynamic Braking Resistor (DBR) resistor coils mounted on the roof.


DAY 4:

Visit to the National Railway Museum:


I arrived at New Delhi station at around 9:15 am planning to take an EMU till Chanakyapuri station to visit the National Railway Musuem. To my surprise and astonishment, none of the staff at the new Computerized Unreserved Ticket Terminal knew the station code for Chanakyapuri. Finally, the supervisor told me that Chanakyapuri was not present in the database and I would have to purchase a ticket till Delhi Safdarjung, the fare being the same. This is strange, as Chanakyapuri is a scheduled halt for the EMUs.

Finally, I reached the National Railway Museum after around half an hour. I was terribly disappointed with the state of the exhibits at the museum. The locos and coaches were rusty, the paint had been peeled off at many places and they were absolutely un-photographable. However, I liked the indoor gallery of the museum which was very descriptive and had added new exhibits like Delhi Metro since the last time I visited.

At night, I had gone to New Delhi station to inquire about the platform from which the Bhopal Shatabdi would depart. I saw the Lucknow Shatabdi with Alsthom LHB coaches pull in behind a WAP5. Too bad that I did not have my camera at that time. The LHB coaches look simply amazing with a great livery. The interiors were much better. I boarded the Executive Class coach of the Shatabdi and was amazed at the finish of the coach. The windows were huge, the seats were luxurious, and the doors fitted snugly. The attendants were also smartly dressed in the traditional Lucknow Nawab attire. Feeling jealous of the passengers of the Lucknow Shatabdi, I returned to my hotel.


DAY 5:

New Delhi to Agra by the Bhopal Shatabdi Express.



I arrived at New Delhi station at 5:15 am just in time to see the Shatabdi rake being shunted in to Platform No. 1. The rake, which was widely debated on IRFCA, was of the old type with small windows. Anyway, I was travelling on the coach no. C1 which was third from the engine. After keeping my luggage on the seat, I walked to the front end of the train to see a WAP5 loco no. 30007 being attached to the Shatabdi. I watched the loco being coupled to the rake and then walked to the drivers cabin. I asked him about the top speed of the train in the Faridabad Mathura section. He said that it travels at 140kmph. As I was walking back to my coach, I noticed a sign saying (Max. Speed 130kmph) on the front end of the coach. This meant that the speed claimed by the driver was false. Anyway, the train started exactly at 6am from New Delhi. It was travelling at a speed of 60kmph till Palwal after which it speeded up. However, for the entire journey from New Delhi to Agra Cantt, the train never crossed 110kmph. This is surprising as the train managed to reach Agra at 7:55 am i.e. bang on time.

Agra to Mumbai by Amritsar Dadar Express.

After a day of sightseeing in Agra, I reached Agra Cantt station at about 7:15pm. I was supposed to travel by the 1058Up Amritsar Dadar Express to Mumbai. The departure time from Agra was at 12:40 am and I had a whole evening to spend at the station. Just then, it was announced that the 2001Dn Bhopal Shatabdi to New Delhi scheduled to arrive at 8:10pm was 15 minutes late. Then, it was announced that the train would be delayed by 25 minutes. Eventually it arrived nearly 35 minutes late.

This was just the start of a lengthy sequence of delays. The Jammu Indore Malwa Express was first announced to be 30 minutes late. Then it was announced that the train would be an hour late. Then 1hr 15minutes, 1hr 30 minutes, 2hrs.This meant that no train arrived at Agra from the Mathura side for nearly 2 hours. When the Malwa Express finally arrived 3hrs late, I came to know the reason for the delay. I saw that the Malwa Express was hauled by a WAG5HA followed by a dead WAP1. This meant that the WAP1 loco must have developed a snag somewhere. Soon, all the trains started pouring into the station. The AP Express, Kerala Express, Karnataka Express,etc. Finally the 1058 arrived nearly 2hrs late hauled by a GZB shed WAP1. It being an off-season, the 3AC compartment was nearly empty. Exhausted due to a days worth of sightseeing and an extended stay at the station, I fell asleep as soon as the train started from Agra.

I woke up next day just as the train was leaving Jhansi. I was surprised to know that the train was now just 20 minutes late. It had made up an hour and a half during the night. The 1058 Up is a slow Express train which halts at almost all wayside stations during daytime. However, the excellent acceleration of the WAP1 ensured that the train was running at full speed in just a couple of minutes. I spent the whole day, taking pictures and enjoying the scenery along the route.

I went to sleep just after we crossed Jalgaon and was woken up by the coach attendant somewhere near Kalyan. The train reached Dadar at 4:30 am i.e. ten minutes before time!!! Amazing considering it started 2hrs late from Agra.