Trip Report
LTT-KHED,Matsyagandha express
Date-10/10/2014
Class 3A-B1..
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more...

Hi everyone..I am back with another trip report.This time traveling through the short konkan stretch from Mumbai to Khed..My 2nd journey on this scenic route..Last was way back in 1998 when I was 4...Since then many changes have taken place...Railway coaches changed from Brown to Blue,WDP 4 has been introduced,LTT has been built,not sure if it was back then and I have turned from a diaper wearing guy to a somewhat decent looking person....
So lets start!!!....It was decided that we would be visiting my native place Dapoli and bus was not convenient option as it is a long journey...So train was always the first preference..A month before tickets were booked and I was shocked to see available tickets for many trains..But Matsyagandha was on the priority list due to the flexible timings...We packed our luggage in the morning on the day of our journey...Left my home,Kurla at 2.40pm,hired an auto and reached LTT within 10 minutes...
As soon as we entered the station,spotted Coimbatore-LTT standing on pf 1 while ours was to depart from pf 4.....B1 was 8th from the rear...Made my way and saw crowd waiting for LTT-Ranchi express...Heard that LTT-Manmad was going to depart shortly....I have to say that the condition of sleeper and unreserved coaches is in a sorry state....Boarded my coach and wasn't pleased to see the condition..Window was full of dirt and visibility outside was minimum...
15.20,yeah finally time to depart...15.25,why aren't we departing??....Then I saw LTT-Ranchi exp shunting...We finally departed at 15.28 and were crawling till ghatkopar after which we rushed through the local stations,overtaking slow Mumbai local trains and tall rising buildings..We were moving at 60-70kmph till Mulund and slowed down till we made our first stop at Thane...Here,Cst-Bhubaneshwar Konark express overtook us...Departed Thane after a brief halt and crawled way till Diva when we again had an unscheduled halt for almost 10 minutes...
Left Diva to join the Panvel route and let me tell you,you need to be on the door to see the Loco clearly as it is a long curve post Diva...WDP 4 was in charge...Diva to Panvel was a mix of speed and crawl,once it was 80-90kmph,then again it was a ride of 20kmph for ten odd minutes.Made an unscheduled halt at Kalamboli but soon left to reach Panvel late by half an hour,16.56 to be exact...Here it was announced that Dadar-Rtnagiri passenger will also be late by 20-30 minutes....Just as we were shown a green,saw Netravati express arriving with WDM3....
Got on my side lower berth for a bit of rest....We never crossed 80kmph after Panvel...Now the train rushing through the lush green belt,I again made my way to the to the doors and saw PEN station getting thrashed,and again crawled till KASU from where the single line starts....Few unreserved passengers got down form the 5kmph moving train,daily commuters I think....Now till ROHA we were running at 50-70kmph and finally made were made to wait for a crossing....Konkanya made its was on the adjacent platform with a WDP4 in the lead....Got a green,and started again to stop at KOLAD....here we halted for almost 20 minutes....An AC express crossed us at MPS but wasn't able to figure out which(Hope someone can tell me)...It was getting dark out when we again stopped at a station which was not lit....Asked a random guy and he replied that it was Mangaon...Now the thing at Mangaon is,they only on the lights if a train is going to arrive....Saw a light glowing in the dark...It was Ernakulam-Ohka express with twin WDM 3's......
Departed Mangaon at around 19.45,late by more than an hour..Finally left Mangaon after 20 long minutes.Mangaon to khed was the only section where we were running continuously for and hour but at a restricted speed of not more than 60kmph....Just before Khed,we were passing through a tunnel which we covered in 15 minutes or so...Long tunnel it was...I was standing at the door and peeping when the train slowed down and I could see us entering Khed station....We reached late exactly by 1.30 hours......9.15 pm.....
OBSERVATIONS
1.Coaches need to be maintained well
2.No cleaning at least till Khed
3.Charging sockets available
4.Caterers board at Khed...