New Delhi to Tenali By Train in 30 hrs.

 

Crazy; seriously?; ridiculous. come one, who travels by train for 30 hrs for fun?  These were the reactions when we disclosed the plan to family and friends. 

 I had to visit my home town Tenali from Delhi on personal work & decided to go by train this time. It takes 30 hrs for the direct train GT express and only 2 hrs by a flight, But where is the fun in flying.

 In my childhood train was the only option to travel to my home town during summer holidays.. but this time it was by choice, Not by compulsion

 My cousin joined me for the journey. He flew from Bangalore to Delhi just for the train journey with me and flew back to Bangalore from Tenali. Yes you read it right. We are that crazy about train travel. 

 If you know me, this is not the craziest thing we have done. We also drove down by car  all the 2000km more than once; also attempted end-to-end ride on India’s longest train journey.

 The start - Day 1 - 29th April 2023

 At 3 pm we were at the New Delhi Railway station. Immediately “India the most populous country in the world “ was frighteningly evident. We were astounded by the vast sea of our species cramped together.. Every platform was packed. As a train comes in, the whole crowd squeezes in. And magically, the platform fills up with people for the next train. We complain of crowd at airports, that seemed like a deserted island right now. We hardly found space to stand till our train arrived.

While waiting, we also witnessed a beaming business from a platform vendor. He hardly had time to breath as he sold item after item from his minuscule makeshift stall on the platform.  His hands were a continuous motion as he handed out items and collected money from the passengers. Our estimate, he sold stuff at least worth Rs. 5,000 in 1 hr.  When we realized he makes much much much more than what we do, shifted our gaze away.  

As our train rolled onto the platform, we quickly boarded with a sigh of relief and settled in the nice spacious & chilled AC 1st class cabin. We had an elderly couple in the lower berths and we got the top berths. 

GT express pulled out from the platform on time at 4:10pm & immediately the WAP 7 Engine showed its might and picked up speed, pulling, the 22 coaches GT express and all souls on board,  at 120kmph with ease. 

One of the reasons for travelling by train is to enjoy the onboard snacks & food. We hardly let any vendor pass by us without we buying something. Bread Cutlet, Tea was good. 

GT was stopped before Mathura to let the Mumbai Rajdhani express Overtake us. In Railway lingo, it was like the teenager Rajdhani express flexing before the almost century old GT Express. And it went past like a tornado. It was embarrassing.

  

There were two more trains chasing us. AP Express & Navjeevan after a while, but Our loco pilot was sure not to let them past to keep the rest of the dignity, and was going flat out at 120-130kmph as if saying "You need to catch me first, then I'll let you think about overtaking". 

Dinner was served after Agra, which was good.  We felt tired and climbed up to our bunks, read a novel for some time but the soft rocking movement of the train soon lulled us to sleep.

  Day 2 - 30th May – The early morning Glory.

 I got up early at 6 am as train would be entering the picturesque Vindhya ranges & didn’t want to miss it. I was annoyed at myself seeing my cousin already awake and enjoying the scenery near the door since 5 am.

It had rained and the weather was amazing. Everything was lush green. Train was cruising comfortably at 100kmph winding through central India.    

The first tea vendor came from the pantry and we sipped hot tea enjoying the cool wind watching the country go by. Tea never tasted so good.  This was the experience we were looking forward to. Sun was behind dark clouds with occasional shaft of sunlight falling through the clouds & turning the wet green landscape golden.  

Crossing the Vindhyas

 Soon Train started climbing into Vindhya Hills. Faint rain drops stated to fall as the train stopped at a small station to attach another engine at the rear to push the long 22 coaches train over the climb. 

We moved on & with the additional engine, GT express was climbing aggressively at 100kmph. It went over numerous bridges, ravines, Tunnels, small streams winding its way through.  The weather was so good that we stayed majorly at the door. Going to the cabin only for delicious Breakfast of Upma and Cutlet. And sipped our second hot tea while watching the scenery.    

 

As the train cruised from state to state North to South, a strange reality struck us - no one either in the train or on the platforms was selling the deep- fried stuff - vadas, pakodas, puris, etc. Hopefully it is only a coincidence and not the Indian railways slowly shifting to boring healthy stuff. One more revelation: nowhere across the whole ride, we could get a “train” coffee - that sweet coffee flavored hot water. It was tea more than 99% of the time.

 A guilt feeling and Idly in a Thunderstorm 

We were hardly at our seat, and the elderly companions felt probably guilty & asked us “I hope you two are not uncomfortable because of us in the cabin. We see you are hardly sitting at your seats, please do come & sit”. We tried explaining that it was not the case, we were travelling for fun and this was our way of enjoying the journey. 

The shock was evident and the shake of the head as he went back was like,  “Travelling by train for fun they say, for 30 long hrs they say”

 By 10 am the train had crossed the hills and entered Nagpur. It was unusually very pleasant, as it had rained heavily. GT started rolling again after 5 mins,  and we continued our journey south passing into Telangana. 

As we entered Warangal station in the evening, we entered into a Thunderstorm. It was pouring and lightning was striking wherever pleased it. People were seen running to take cover. Not Us,  we had spotted an Idly vendor on the platform. We jumped out, faster than we should have at the surprised vendor, who thought we were there to steal his load. Relieved he handed us two plates of idly – vada and we Lunged back into our coach with the same speed, beaming that we made it without getting wet, the idly we mean & devoured them even before the train moved.

  Move Along warning and Destination reached.

 The Loco Pilot of our train probably thought of waiting for the rain to subside to leave Warangal but got a warning from the Station Master on the announcement “GT Express- You have been given a green signal. You are requested to move the train or your signal may be cancelled”

Which would also mean that other trains coming behind might also be allowed to go past. That did the trick, for our Loco Pilot started the train immediately, albeit  reluctantly and went on slowly through the pouring rain. 

In the night we had nothing much to do & got up onto our top  berths trying to finish the novel & waiting for our destination. We arrived at Vijayawada station at 9:50pm and the platform was jam packed. There was hardly any space. It was like the whole city was evacuating!  

At 10:40 we got down at Tenali Station, saying good bye to GT express our home of last 30 hrs.

We enjoyed our journey.. Hope you enjoyed reading it.

Written By -

The Travelers - Ravindra Khandrika & Sivaram Chintalapati 

Tenali - 12-05-23