So, like, check it, I had to go from Allahabad to Lucknow. My ride was the Nauchandi Express. These days, most trains heading to LKO start from 'Prayagraj Sangam' station [which used to be called Prayag Ghat before. You should peep some old pics of it from around 10 years back. It was a total run-down station (check 'em out here: https://indiarailinfo.com/blog/post/975456)]. I grabbed a shared auto to get to the station due to crazy evening traffic which took me around 45 mins. The station is right next to Daraganj station, which is just a basic stop with no fancy skywalk or extra tracks. I got a Third AC ticket.

I hopped onto the train until Phaphamau Jn, and a bunch of peeps got on at Prayag and Phaphamau. When I returned to my spot, it was occupied by two cops. One had a Side Upper seat booked [mine was Side Lower], and the other didn't have a reservation. The ticket checker gave the latter a temporary spot elsewhere but he refused to move from my seat. So, while others were catching Z's, the three of us were squished together for no good reason. It would've been chill if we were back to back [like in Sleeper coaches], but we were facing the windows which was not so great. I had to file a complaint online [which got the ticket checker to sort it out] before I got my seat back.

I dozed on and off during the ride as we stopped at almost every station before reaching RBL. The AC coaches were pretty clean, and a few people got on at each stop. I knocked out between RBL-LKO and woke up at Dilkusha cabin on the outskirts of Lucknow. When I headed to the door to get off, I saw a huge crowd waiting to hop on. Some smart cookie even thought jumping into the running HA1 coach was a solid idea [I was getting off from the coach next to mine, B1] before wisely changing his mind. It was quite a struggle to navigate through the crowd.

Allahabad se Lucknow

Meri train Nauchandi Express thi. Kyonki ab LKO jaane wali trains ki zyadatar shuruaat hoti hai 'Prayagraj Sangam' station se [ek naya station, pehle yeh Prayag Ghat ke naam se jaana jaata tha. Station ke 10 saalo purane pictures dekhne se pata chalta hai ki voh bilkul alag aur jhula hua tha (/blog/post/975456) ], to maine ek shared auto station tak liya. Shaam ke peak traffic ke chalte, station pahunchne mein lagbhag 45 minute lag gaye. Yeh Daraganj station ke bagal mein hai, jo basically ek halt jaisa station hai bina FOB ke ya multiple loop lines ke. Meri booking Third AC mein thi.

Main Phaphamau Jn tak footplate ke saath gaya aur Prayag aur Phaphamau mein kai log sawar hue. Jab main apne seat par wapas aaya, to wahan pe pichle se do policemen beth chuke the. Ek ka reservation Side Upper mein tha [mera Side Lower tha] aur doosre ka nahi. Jo doosra tha, usse TT ne kisi aur jagah partial seat di thi but voh meri seat se hilti nahi. Toh dusre Side Lower pax so rahe the, yahaan hum teeno bina kisi wajah ke ek seat par beth gaye the. Mujhe toh farak nahi padta agar do log aise hi baithe hote [jaise Sleeper coaches mein hota hai] par yahaan humein khidki ke saamne baithe rehna pada aur yeh uncomfortable tha. Mujhe shikayat karni padi online [uske baad TT aake sitaution solve karne aaya] tab mujhe meri poori seat mili.

Main tez passenger mein sote-sote jagte-sote hote rahe jab tak RBL tak pahuncha. Coaches achhe saaf the aur har station par kuch log AC coaches mein so pade. Main RBL-LKO ke beech soya rahe aur Lucknow ke outskirts mein Dilkusha cabin par uth gaya. Kuch minute baad, jab main darwaaze ki taraf gaya utarne ke liye, toh maine dekha train mein chadhne ke liye ek badi bheed thi. Koi chatur insaan socha boarding running train me HA1 coach mein [main apne coach B1 se niche utar raha tha] acha idea hoga par ultimately usne decide kiya nahi. Main mushkil se bheed se guzra.