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Gatimaan Express: Raftaar meri Pehchaan - Sajid Akhtar

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Blog Entry# 3937946
Posted: Oct 25 2018 (19:12)

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Last Response: Oct 28 2018 (19:48)
General Travel
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Oct 25 2018 (19:12)   12842/Coromandel Express (PT)
PKV~
PKV~   25537 blog posts
Entry# 3937946            Tags  
A repost of my travel blog dated 3rd October 2012. I guess things have now deteriorated further with additional stops and passenger load.
" Not too long ago, there existed a train called KING COROMANDEL. It was also referred to as the KING OF SER. But alas today it reminds me of the decadent HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE. One of the favourite quotes of HISTORY relating to the DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is " There came a time when the HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WAS NEITHER HOLY, NOR ROMAN NOR AN EMPIRE. If we were to stretch that to the COROMANDEL exp, the time has now come when KING COROMANDEL is no longer a KING but a mere COMMONER. Just one more name
...
more...
in the roster of trains run by IR. But how have things come to such a sorry pass.
Well let me begin at the beginning. Having arrived at Chennai Central at 6.45 am on 1st October, by the 16042 Aleppey Chennai Express, I spent time with admin Pramodh before we parted company at 7.15 am. On to the Saravana Bhawan branch at the station for hot steaming idlis and a cup of coffee, before I wended my way to PF 9 at 7.45, simultaneously as the empty rake of my train was ushered in to the platform by a shunting engine. Soon the bogies started filling up with the early birds among the reserved passengers, like me, occupying their seats. To my reckoning, about 75 to 80 % of the passengers hailed from Bengal or Bihar. I parked my modest one-piece luggage on the window seat no. 65 corresponding to my Lower Berth in S12 and strolled on the platform to witness proceedings prior to departure. The 2 UR coaches at the rear of the train were soon filled to the brim and the latecomers took their seats near the doors with their feet planted firmly on the footboards of the bogies. After these coaches were the AC coaches and then my compartment viz. S12. And then after the PC were the other sleeper coaches starting from S11 to S1, which was close to the loco, an ERODE WAP4.
And now the mayhem started, as WL passengers, general ticket holders who had arrived too late to even enter the UR coaches, made a beeline for S12, the most accessible non-AC coach. S11 too was a soft target for such last minute arrivals. And slowly but steadily S12 started bursting to the seams. Some of the general ticket holders entered S12 and occupied whatever vantage points were available at sight. When questioned, they confidently remarked that they were willing to pay the fine and travel in the sleeper coach without the benefit of any reservation. To my estimate by departure time at 8.45 am, the passenger count in my coach had exceeded the CENTURY MARK. This was one CENTURY which did not bring any CHEER to me. But before that, say around 8.30 am, a MAS-based Ticket Examiner (not TTE), boarded my coach and fined all GEN TICKET HOLDERS left and right. He must have realised penalties and excess fares from at least 15 persons, at the rate of Rs. 450 per pax, travelling to Howrah and Rs. 500 from those travelling beyond HWH, against receipts in the form of EFTs. By the time the train got off the blocK from PF 9, there were at least 10 passengers at either end of the coach, occupying the space between the doors and leaving just the bare minimum of room needed for a visit to the loo, in case of need. Add to that the liberal overload in the side lower/upper berths. For instance berths 71/72 just opposite to 65, where I was positioned, were home to 6 passengers. 1 confirmed (72), 2 RAC (71) and 3 penalised general ticket holders. The same spectacle was visible in quite a few other side lower berths, but not all of them.
My apprehension is that this has BEEN ACCEPTED BY IR as a FAIT ACCOMPLI. The next target, in my view, will be the AS YET UNAFFECTED DURONTO EXPRESSES and the AC Coaches, were too the non-AC, space between the doors of the coach, offer themselves as VIRGIN & hitherto UNUTILIZED TERRITORY
WHAT A FALL IT HAS BEEN FOR THE COROMANDEL, THAT LEGENDARY EMPEROR OF YORE, which at one point of time, NEVER CARRIED MORE PASSENGERS THAN WHAT WAS STATED INSIDE THE BOGIE BOLDLY as "TO SEAT 72, TO SLEEP 72".
But my NIGHT OF HORRORS was yet to BEGIN. Having occupied the UB (67) for which I was grateful to an elderly lady whom I obliged with my LB(65), I had just drifted into a sleep by about 10.30 pm, when some Bengali songs started blaring loudly from the other end of the coach. After 4/5 songs, at a DECIBEL LEVEL which was more comparable to a PUJA PANDAL, the music was replaced by an even louder NOISE LEVEL of a FRACAS, that began as a VERBAL CLASH but soon degenerated into FISTICUFFS. In fact, about 60% of the passengers in the train,were homebound Bengali labourers employed in Kerala and in any case at least 25 to 30 passengers had no BERTHS, to their names. This continued for almost an hour at intermittent intervals till it subsided well past midnight. Apparently, the altercation was between a group of labourers who wanted to enjoy a good night's sleep on their berths and another group without reservation, for whom SLEEP WAS BUT A DISTANT DREAM.
Finally after I was into my 2nd innings of sleep, I got up at around 3.30 am to relieve myself. And an AMAZING SPECTACLE GREETED MY EYES. The intervening space between LBs 65 and 68 was occupied by NOT ONE BUT 2 persons, who were sleeping there, in what I have often referred to as the MEZZANINE BERTH. This apart, the passage in the aisle, opposite the SLB 71, likewise served as BED to 2 others. We shall call it the AISLE BERTH. Now I undertook a recee of the path to my destination THE TOILET and found that another 2 persons sitting in front of the door and sleeping. One of them had stretched his legs while the other had his legs folded. To their right, between the other door and the passage to the toilet were 2 more persons who wre fast sleep.For me it was to be a MILITARY MANOVUERE more COMPLEX than what DIPYAMAN had described in the initial post of this thread.
I descended from the top of berth 67 to the outward corner of LB 65 and planted both my feet there to begin with. Then one foot got shifted to the corner of LB 68 followed by the other too. then one by one both got shifted to available space in the corner of LB 71. From there it was a LONG JUMP of OLYMPIC standards WHICH FOUND ME LANDING SAFELY IN FRONT OF THE TOILET DOOR. I opted for the one with no LATCHES since it was around 3.30 and a safe hour at that. Better that than the OVERFLOWING ONE. On my return journey, however, I had to wake up at least 2 of the OBSTRUCTIONISTS to make my way back to the berth.
Mercifully, there were no hiccups thereafter as I enjoyed a sound sleep till 7 am just as the train was nearing BHADRAK.
In the concluding part of my JOURNEY REPORT, I would like to undertake a comparative study of travel by different classes in IR. Normally, my class preferences are as follows :-
Air/1AC - when travelling on official duty
2AC/3AC - when travelling with wife or other family members
Sleeper - when travelling alone on a private trip.
There is no gainsaying the fact that travel by AC class is certainly MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE than the other classes. But from a RAILFAN's PERSPECTIVE, travel by Sleeper Class is SO MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE. The views through the windows and opportunities for DOORPLATING are a SOURCE OF DELIGHT, that is denied to one travelling in AC coaches. There is also much MORE OF A 2-WAY INTERACTION between passengers in the SLEEPER CLASS that enables to you feel the PULSE OF THE NATION and affords a GLIMPSE OF REAL INDIA. The same kind passengers behave as STUFFED SHIRTS when travelling by AC coaches and tend to be LESS COMMUNICATIVE with one another.
Take for instance my recent journey under report, where I was the sole male member in a bay for 6, the 5 others being ELDERLY LADIES of KGP, returning from a visit to a BABAJI residing in a religious ASHRAM in Chennai. As a senior citizen, they found in me a CAPTIVE AUDIENCE to be lectured on the MERITS of MEDITATION, PHILOSOPHY and RELIGION. I gave them a patient hearing which they MISTOOK FOR KEEN INTEREST and MADE ARRANGEMENTS for me to JOIN THEIR KOLKATA CHAPTER. Following a series of calls to their Kolkata office on their mobiles and introductions etc., they EAGERLY MADE ARRANGEMENTS FOR MY ENROLLMENT IN THE MEDITATION & SELF-AWAKENING CLASSES at their Alipore Branch in Kolkata wef the 3rd of October. This was to be followed by an ADVANCED COURSE in SELF-REALISATION at their ASHRAM in Kharagpur. I for my part was least INTERESTED in all these RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS, but KEPT PLAYING BALL to HUMOUR THIS HIGHLY COMMITTED GROUP OF DEVOTEES. Yes, if it was a TUTORIAL IN RAIL FANNING being RECOMMENDED, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE UP MY ALLEY. When the ladies went to sleep, I spent time chatting with the large contingent of Bengali migrant workers, returning from Kerala. It gave me an opportunity to understand their way of life, food habits, living standards and remuneration more than 2500 kms away from home. Can you imagine such a LEARNING OPPORTUNITY while travelling by AC. And yet THIS SORDID EXPERIENCE of TRAVEL BY THE SLEEPER CLASS made me arrive at a KNEE-JERK DECISION to ESCHEW this class in all FUTURE TRAIN JOURNEYS. I VOWED NOT TO ENTER A SLEEPER CLASS COACH EVER AGAIN IN MY LIFE, considering that they had now become MERE EXTENSIONS OF GENERAL BOGIES, thanks to an INEFFICIENT & INEFFECTIVE INDIAN RAILWAYS.
But I soon realized that I had booked SLEEPER CLASS for travel to Blore on 20th October and return on 16th November. However a consolation was that these trips were planned by the DURONTO and therefore likely to be less of an ORDEAL than say by the MULTI-STOP HWH-YPR Express of AAM JANATA VINTAGE.
Well, I then proposed to convert my DECISION to a PIOUS NEW YEAR 2013 RESOLUTION, which I suspect, will ULTIMATELY ME OBSERVED IN THE BREACH. But that is for ANOTHER DAY.
OVERALL SCORE CARD FOR KING (?) COROMANDEL
Pantry : No comments as I had bread, jam, biscuits and fruits for lunch, evening snacks, dinner and breakfast in that order, without SOURCING THE OFFERINGS FROM THE PC.
PUNCTUALITY : VERY GOOD as the train reached HWH only 15 mns LATE.
COMFORT : Non-existent.
CLEANLINESS : Horrible with the coach being populated by quite a few members of rodent family, one of which, even NIBBLED AT MY TOES, MISTAKING THEM FOR A PIECE OF CANDY.
TOILETS : Hell-holes
OVERALL EXPERIENCE : Eminently Forgettable.
THANKS TO ONE AND ALL FOR THE PATIENT READING

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Oct 28 2018 (15:13)
KnightXXX   1175 blog posts
Re# 3937946-21              
12727 Godavari SF Express undisputed
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Oct 28 2018 (15:20)
KnightXXX   1175 blog posts
Re# 3937946-22              
Falaknuma Express is New king gets priority.
Extension of 22841 Santragachi - Chennai Central Antyodaya Express upto Howarh and making it daily will solve problems.
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Oct 28 2018 (15:28)
JharkhandSwarnaJayantikea~
JharkhandSwarnaJayantikea~   5230 blog posts
Re# 3937946-23              
Falcon is good but not the king even of SCR.. seen several times getting looped for BBS rajdhani..
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Oct 28 2018 (16:20)
12381poorva~
12381poorva~   2566 blog posts
Re# 3937946-24              
Maharastra sampark kranti ka frequency daily kar dena chahiye
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Oct 28 2018 (19:48)
adi.dhn~
adi.dhn~   6008 blog posts
Re# 3937946-25              
Maharashtra Sampark kranti should run daily with 130 MPS.
Surat should be added as stoppage
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