DADN-KYQ Express, NR/LKO ka Aatank.

To bhai kuch urgent kaam ki wajah se, mujhe Lucknow se Varanasi ghar wapas jaana pad raha tha. Plan to original Ekatmata Express se return karne ka tha, par mere Thar mein kuch anjaane halat ki wajah se, station ke beech se wapas lautna pada.

To phir ek aur ghanta, ek aur plan. 19305, DADN-KYQ Express mujhe sabse better laga, to maine tickets book kar diya current availability mein. Uber pe chadha aur yeh mera fastest commute tha poora safar mein, 20 minute mein Ekana se Charbagh pahunch gaya.

Train Kanpur tak time pe thi, par jaise hi NR mein enter hui, late hona shuru ho gayi. Phir bhi, maine umeed ki 45 minutes se jyada delay na ho. Par NR/LKO ne keh diya "No way". Unhone GM saloon aur do ALCos ke saath khela PF-2 mein jahan train receive honi thi.

Shaheed Express pehle vacant PF-3 pe gayi, aur jab ALCos finally parking simulator se free ho gaye, Bagh Express PF-2 pe receive ki gayi. Aur jab mujhe LKO pe coach display indicators dikhe, woh apna alag dimag chalane lage the. Meri train ka data dikha rahe the jab tak Bagh PF-2 pe thi. Shaheed ka display hua jab woh chali gayi.

Ant mein, 1.5 ghante delay ke baad, train aayi PF-3 pe aur chali gayi ek aur kuch minutes delay accumulate karke. Par yahaan aaya ek unexpected twist NR/LKO ka. Train pahunch gayi SLN mein 1 ghante 20 minute mein, averaging 100kmph se zyada. Aur SLN-JOP mein around 50 minutes mein, phir se average 100kmph. Ab main sure tha ki 11:30 se pehle pahunch jayenge Varanasi.

Phir shuru hui typical NR behaviour. Train roki har station pe taki freight trains thoda progress kar sake, bina kisi reason ke hote hue late. Aur ant mein train roki Babatpur mein kyonki operational block tha. Ek poori tarah avoidable situation, agar woh train schedule pe chalate.

Train wahaan lagbhag ek ghante ke liye ruki. Agar pehla block kaam nahi karta to dusra tha schedule par, aur bilkul waisa hi hua. Par somehow humein aage jaane diya, kyunki train bharpoor logon se bhari thi jo kisi exam ke liye ja rahe the, aur unka gussa tha. Train fir roki Shivpur aur Varanasi ke outskirts mein.

Is point pe main itna pareshan ho gaya tha, ki main gaadi se utar ke station ki taraf chal pada. Wapas chadha jab train dheere gaadi chalane lagi station ki taraf. Ant mein BSB pahunchi lagbhag 2 ghante late. ½ ghante ka delay bhara, tab bhi chalai jaa rahi thi train, aur last 50km mein heavy slack tha.

Ek sher ko samajh sakte ho ki bakriyon ka dhyan rakh sakta hai, par NR pe bharosa nahi hai ki samay pe kahin pahunch payega. Yahaan kuch tasveerein hain jo maine apni train ka intezaar karte hue li. Well, train ke alawa jisme main safar kar raha tha.

P.S. Farakka ab bhi BSB mein MLDT-NDLS ke naam se dikha ja raha hai. Aur jabki train boards ab bhi printed aur handwritten hain, CDO/KIR ne extra steps liye hain paint karne ke liya ER ko wapas jahan se peel off hua tha. Yeh log yahaan kuch blogs padh rahe hain, sure hai.

Kumud.