Maitree Express: মৈত্রী এক্সপ্রেস - দুই বাংলার সংস্কৃতি ও ভাতৃত্বের মেলবন্ধন - Joydeep Roy

Meter Gauge Chronicles. A journey in one of the last remaining mainline MG routes.

1. BRK-MLN MG Express being shunted on PF-1 of Bahraich. Meanwhile GD-BRK DEMU in background in background preparing for it's return journey.

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Machine, man and nature. Our train departing from the laidback settings of Manjhara Poorab.

3. Daily life and the daily commuters of the train. Most of the travellers boarded to reach their daily jobs in Risiya. Teachers, shopkeepers, nurses, policeman, peons, everyone on the train seemed to know each other.

4. A curious child looking out of the window. He kept asking his father about everything he saw. That's how I became a railfan, too.

5. Lines meeting and going deep into the Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary.

6, 7. Traversing through the Dudhwa national park.

8. Approaching the mighty Ghaghra barrage. It was quite scary sitting on the gate and recording while the river churned below.

9. A semaphore signal and a railway employee returning after setting the signal to Stop.

10. That one's obvious. The little devil snatched my samosa and hid below the train.

11. Our pairing train going back to Bahraich, running back into the Katarniaghat sanctuary after emerging from Dudhwa.

12. A busy Nanpara Junction bustling with activity. Train halted here for almost an hour. You can go out and buy things to eat. Or you can buy bread-pakoras or samosas being freshly made on the PF. The huge old tree gives the feels of old times and may remind you of Malgudi Days.

13. The said bread-pakora. Along with the samosa it was quite delicious, although a bit oily to my liking.

14. A IZN YDM-4 stands tall at it's base, Mailani.

15. The MG yard of Mailani. You can spot a wide variety of YDM-4s, GS and Vistadome tourist coaches here. Along with a few freight vans and brake vans.

16. Located a few meters away from the station, beyond the yard is the loco maintenance shed of Mailani, most probably managed by IZN.

17. Mailani yard with all the MG coaches and locos with the coaching depot visible in the background.

18. Where MG meets electrified BG. BRK-MLN MG Express on PF-3 while my next connecting train MLN-GKP Express standing on PF-1.

I did this journey on 31/06/2022. And except LKO-GD, the entire LKO-MLN-LJN journey was on a station bought general ticket. The train was clean, washrooms were clean and were fully functional. Although same can't be said for the electrical elements.

I was also quite surprised that people boarding the train from the stations mid-jungle, too traveled with valid tickets. They were helpful and interacting with them, learning about their slow lives in remote areas was an experience in itself.

Kumud.