A tryst with Trains [Part 1]
LUCKNOW TO HARGAON
I took this trip couple of weeks ago when this train only went upto Mailani. I left home early for the station which...
more... was lit up for Republic Day celebrations [January 26th it was]. I had a side lower seat in SL class. Since AC still costs a minimum of 505 regardless of distance, it doesn't make prudent sense to book in it, even roadways is cheaper than that. A cursory look from outside in the AC coaches confirmed my assumptions that it was mostly used by GKP Loop line pax upto Lucknow. It was mostly empty post then. The GN coaches were filled from LJN itself. And SL slowly, but steadily got filled as the next stations in Lucknow came. [This is a weird train in the sense that it stops at SIX places in Lucknow itself. This is the true Lucknow Mail in a sense :p. Even for bigger cities like Delhi, crawling trains still somehow leave the city after atmost 5 stops or so; but this train endures 2+ hrs in the city ]. As I footplated for the next two stations, the GN coaches got filled to absurdity and people streamed into SL like anything.
What could be more ironical that in the same train, 10 coaches [AC] lie mostly vacant whilst passengers jostle for an inch of space in the other half. Probably a reflection of the world's economy :p. Either case, I believe that for certain trains, IR should reduce the minimum price for AC bookings. That'll actually help them get more revenue since lots more passengers can then use the AC privileges. It will also help, to a limited extent, in reducing the load on SL.
At Mohibullapur [basically on Lucknow-Sitapur line], so much crowd came in that I lost any interest in footplating and somehow jostled my way back in the train and then to the seat where two folks were sitting [one with valid ticket and one without]. Apparently, the one without the ticket asked me to adjust in the middle without access to the window [Wow!]. Somehow I got access to proper window and after sometime complained on 'Rail Madad' app regarding the crowd. The TTE did came at the next stop, Sitapur where basically the whole crowd deboards. I continued my journey to the next station.
I saw surprisingly, the morning Lucknow/Gomti Nagar - Pilibhit passenger waiting at Hargaon on the loop line and since I had to go to the next halt station, I switched to that train [which was delayed]. It was decently full and I deboarded at Oel Halt for the Frog Temple which is a ~1 km away from the rail station. I quickly saw it and came back just in time for the next Daliganj - Mailani passenger and made my way to 'Gola Gorakhnath'. I stood upto Lakhimpur but quickly got a window seat after that where I drifted in and out of sleep until I reached my destination station.
please wait...Translate to EnglishA Tryst with Trains
Lucknow to Hargaon
I took this trip a couple of weeks ago when this train only went up to Mailani. I left home early for the station, which was lit up for Republic Day celebrations. I had a side lower seat in SL class. Since AC still costs a minimum of 505 regardless of distance, it doesn't make prudent sense to book it; even roadways are cheaper. A cursory look from outside in the AC coaches confirmed my assumptions that it was mostly used by GKP Loop line passengers up to Lucknow. It was mostly empty after that. The GN coaches were filled from LJN itself. And SL slowly, but steadily got filled as the next stations in Lucknow came. As I footplated for the next two stations, the GN coaches got filled to absurdity, and people streamed into SL like anything.
What could be more ironic than that in the same train, 10 coaches lie mostly vacant while passengers jostle for an inch of space in the other half? Probably a reflection of the world's economy :p. Either way, I believe that for certain trains, IR should reduce the minimum price for AC bookings. That'll actually help them get more revenue since lots more passengers can then use the AC privileges. It will also help, to a limited extent, in reducing the load on SL.
At Mohibullapur, so much crowd came in that I lost any interest in footplating and somehow jostled my way back into the train and then to the seat where two folks were sitting. Apparently, the one without a ticket asked me to adjust in the middle without access to the window. Somehow I got access to a proper window and after some time complained on the 'Rail Madad' app regarding the crowd. The TTE did come at the next stop, Sitapur, where basically the whole crowd deboarded. I continued my journey to the next station.
I saw, surprisingly, the morning Lucknow/Gomti Nagar - Pilibhit passenger waiting at Hargaon on the loop line, and since I had to go to the next halt station, I switched to that train. It was decently full, and I deboarded at Oel Halt for the Frog Temple, which is ~1 km away from the rail station. I quickly saw it and came back just in time for the next Daliganj - Mailani passenger and made my way to Gola Gorakhnath. I stood up to Lakhimpur but quickly got a window seat after that, where I drifted in and out of sleep until I reached my destination station.
please wait...Translate to HindiEk train ke saath safar
Lucknow se Hargaon
Maine yeh safar kuch hafte pehle kiya tha, jab yeh train sirf Mailani tak jaati thi. Ghar se main station ke liye kaafi jaldi nikla, jo ki Ganatantra Diwas ke jashn se roshan tha. Mere paas SL class mein side lower seat thi. Kyuki AC mein abhi bhi minimum 505 rupaye lagte hain, chahe safar kitna bhi chota kyun na ho, toh AC mein book karna sahi nahin lagta, yahan tak ki roadways bhi usse sasta hai. Bahar se AC coaches mein ek jhalak dekhne se hi pata chal gaya ki yeh mostly GKP Loop line ke passengers Lucknow tak use kar rahe the. Uske baad yeh kaafi khaali thi. GN coaches LJN se hi bhar gaye the. Aur SL dhire-dhire, lekin steadily bharta gaya jaise Lucknow ke aage station aate gaye. Jaise maine agle do stations par footplating kiya, GN coaches behad bhar gaye aur log SL mein jaise kuch bhi ho gaya.
Kitna ironic hai ki ek hi train mein, 10 coaches mostly khali hain aur dusre aadhe mein passengers jagah ke liye lad rahe hain. Shayad yeh duniya ki economy ka hi aks hai :p. Chahe jaisa bhi ho, mera maanana hai ki kuch trains ke liye, IR ko AC booking ki minimum price kam karni chahiye. Isse unhe zyada revenue milega kyunki zyada passengers AC ki suvidha use kar payenge. Isse, thodi si had tak, SL par load bhi kam hoga.
Mohibullapur par, itni bheed aayi ki mujhe footplating mein koi interest nahin raha aur maine somehow apna rasta train mein aur phir apni seat tak banaya, jahan do log baith rahe the. Jiske paas ticket nahin tha, usne mujhse beech mein adjust karne ko kaha, window se access ke bina. Somehow mujhe sahi window mil gaya aur kuch der baad maine 'Rail Madad' app par bheed ke baare mein complain kar diya. TTE agle station Sitapur par aaya, jahan basically saari bheed utar gayi. Maine apni journey agle station tak jaari rakhi.
Maine hairani se dekha ki subah Lucknow/Gomti Nagar - Pilibhit passenger Hargaon par loop line par wait kar rahi thi aur kyunki mujhe agle halt station jana tha, toh main us train mein badal gaya. Yeh decent bhari hui thi aur main Oel Halt par Frog Temple ke liye utar gaya, jo ki rail station se ~1 km door hai. Maine use jaldi dekha aur vapas aa gaya, bilkul time par agle Daliganj - Mailani passenger ke liye aur 'Gola Gorakhnath' ke liye nikal gaya. Main Lakhimpur tak khada raha, lekin uske baad mujhe jaldi hi ek window seat mil gayi jahan main sone mein aate-jate raha jab tak meri destination station nahin aa gayi.