ट्रेनों का सफर, ज़िन्दगी का सफर, रेलफैन दोनों में माहिर

Dear Sir,
Thanks for sharing the valuable information. Our intention behind this trip is to cover Konkan railways during monsoon with major part of the coverage done during the day, so reaching Chennai by shortest route or quicker is not much of our wish. So we are kind of sticking to this route, but the major concern here is the time gap to be sufficient enough to catch our flight to Chennai. I agree to your point of arriving at Mumbai by noon, unfortunately we don't have direct trains reaching Mumbai by noon and we could choose 12617 Mangala Express that arrives in Panvel by 13.00 hrs which should be ideal on the point you are stressing but we end up losing...
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the Karwar-Ratnagiri stretch being covered in night :(
Also I'm not sure among the whole MAQ-PNVL stretch which section contains the most scenic viaduct/tunnel/bridges that should not be missed by travelling during night? If that is known then probably we could arrive at a plan finally to ensure that we cover that section on day light and count on trains accordingly.
One more thing I got to know from one of the senior member from Mumbai that "Kurla station is too congested and getting out of the station on the correct side could also be tricky for a newcomer. Because of this, I feel you can try getting down at Chembur ( two stations before Kurla) and take a cab or auto to Airport. (Chembur is a small station with just an island platform as against Kurla which has 9/10 platforms). Now that, I understand, the new flyover linking Chembur and Santacruz is open for traffic it would be quicker to reach Airport from Chembur rather than from Kurla. "
Expecting your kind reply/suggestions further.