RAIPUR - VIZAG - CHENNAI - NAGPUR - RAIPUR

So I was traveling to Chennai all the way from Raipur on 7th evening.

I took GS ticket of Korba Vizag Link Express and...
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boarded from Raipur, GS ka mahol ekdum packed to nhi tha but seat mil gyi thi. Washrooms use nhi kiya mai. Baki raat ko ticket checking to nhi hui but sube barabar ticket checking hui. Sube 8 bje tk mai Vizag station pahuch gya tha and station me brush and all kiya.

Fir suna tha ki Vizag pr Sai Ram Parlour famous hai for break fast and lunch, to waha gya tha and after that meri 2pm ko Hwh Chennai Mail me SL ticket confirm hui jb mai station gya and waha apne seat pr gya to coach bahut hi zyda packed tha kese na kese krk maine apne Side Upper Berth me bagpack rkha and so gya. (Washroom use krne layak tha but gate k pass bahut se waitlisted passengers the which made me some kind of uncomfortable to use). Day journey was good and okay. Night was little bit cautious because waitlisted passengers bahut the to chori ka darr tha baki TTEs ne ticket ko check kiya tha but waitlisted passengers ko bs ye bola ki agar reservation wala aata h to unko seat dedo and jaha khali dikh raha hai waha chale jao. Dophr and sham ko so gya tha to raat zyda nind nhi aayi kyuki 3bje station aane wala tha and raat ko to log train k floor me so gye the to movement was kind of tough.

Chennai station aane k 10min pehle sb log uth gye coach me wapis se halchal bdh gyi, outer me train ruki to thoda scary lga. Jaise hi station pahucha I did brush and all.

Fir Chennai me ek ceremony attend kiya then raat ko mera Tamil Nadu Express me SL me waiting ticket tha aur mai 2-3 saal pehle bhi is train k SL me travel krchuka tha to pta tha mahol accha rehta hai still maine AC ki waiting ticket lia kuch kuch ghante pehle ka experience bahut kharab that. Sham 6 bje Tamil Nadu express ka chart bna and mera SL ticket confirm nhi hua and AC ticket confirm hogya, Jaan me Jaan aai then raat ko station me Dinner kiya and 10 bje train Board kiya.

This time coach was clean washrooms bhi acchi hi the, is train me experience accha raha Nagpur tk maine travel kiya almost 10 min ki delay (2:00pm) me mai Nagpur pahucha. Mujhe Raipur jana tha and ek train dekha Jodhpur Puri Express jo 2:15pm ko Nagpur aati hai mai jldi jldi online general ticket book kiya and ticket ka print out nikala and ticket counter se sidhar platform 6 pr gya.

Train aai GS coach mai maine seat apna rumal de kr roka coach me thoda kum bhid tha to seat mil gyi thi. Nagpur me TTEs acche strict the 2 baar general coach me checking hui to accha lga. Train time pr chal rahi hai and I'll reach Raipur on time.

Overall Experience of my this trip was bit concerning about sleeper class, hygiene and safety of passengers in trains which runs on daily basis.

"The Last Ride of 2022"

I boarded the 12549 Durg - Jammu Tawi SF Express from Raipur Jn. with 10minutes of delay. I was planning for a Shimla Solo Trip (Just for Toy Train). I didn't book any further tickets and return journey tickets. So when 12549 reached Bilaspur there was no delay but as soon as the train departed after locomotive reversal from Bilaspur, it stopped at Bilaspur outer for approx. 1hr and then reached its 1st halt after Bilaspur i.e Pendra Road with a delay of 1.5hrs 😶. Later for...
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dinner I checked "Food on Track" app and ordered dinner from Saugor station where my train's scheduled arrival was of 23:15hrs but it reached there by 01:15hrs i.e with a delay of 2hrs. I wasn't expecting that I'll be getting my dinner there but thanks to the vendor who served my dinner very freshly. After having my dinner I thought of booking my return ticket so I took a Waiting Ticket in 12808 Samta Express from Delhi to Raipur as if my ticket doesn't confirm then I might travel in General Class of 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi to Nagpur and later from Nagpur I'll take 12808 Samta Express till Raipur, this was going in my mind. After that I slept. Inbetween when I woke up train was about to reach Jhansi Jn at 6:45am and it was heavily delayed by 5hrs 😱. Again I slept, when I woke up finally train arrived Gwalior Jn. at 9:00am with a delay of 6hrs, my mood got off. Later it reached Delhi with a delay of 7hrs and my plan for catching the 04569 Ambala to Kalka Express from Ambala at 6:22pm to Kalka was destroyed.

Suddenly I checked the next trains from Ambala to Kalka and I found that 14331 Old Delhi - Kalka Express was cancelled and I was in no mood in taking 12005 New Delhi - Kalka Shatabdi from Ambala to Kalka so tried to explore options by road but later decide to waste some bucks in 12005 New Delhi Kalka Shatabdi as I wanted to take the earliest train from Kalka to Shimla to capture sunrise 😀 but as the time was passing I wasn't sure that whether I can catch 12005 New Delhi Kalka Shatabdi because of late running of my 12549 Durg Jammu Tawi Express so decided to book ticket in Shatabdi Express, once my train crosses Kurukshetra Jn.

As soon as Kurukshetra Jn. passed my train covered 1hr delay i.e from 7hrs delay to 6hrs delay. Again a hope rose for catching 04569 Ambala - Kalka Express from Ambala. And I was happy from inside but god had same plan for me in different way. My train reached Ambala outers at 5:45pm and next 04569 was at 6:22pm from PF1 (it should be called as PF 1A just like Raipur Jn. platform). I started panicking as my train was at same place till 6:12pm just 10min left for 04569's departure. My train got signal and it crawled all the way till Ambala's PF 7 at 6:20pm I ran extremely fast from PF7 to PF1 just few meters away from the train I started losing my stamina my speed slowed down. I was able to see the Gaurd's coach. I started walking fast and was not seeing the time. I thought I cannot make it, so opened my phone's camera to shoot my 1st missing train and at the same time, in the announcement, it was getting announced that 04569 will be departing Ambala on its scheduled time. I just made it at 6:23pm yes at 6:23pm I caught the train 04569 and boarded it without ticket as I have already in touch with my brother that if I can make it into this train then pls take ticket for Kalka from Dhulkot as we are destined to meet at Dhulkot. After boarding the train, co-passenger sensed me that I m breathing heavily and showed a good gesture by offering me a bottle of water.
And the most irritating thing happened to me was, the train departed at 6:45pm 🥲🥹. My brother met me at Dhulkot and gave me the ticket with some light snacks and later reached Kalka with a delay of 17minutes.

Edit 1: (Writing this on 23-12-22 11:42am)

So I spend whole night at Kalka Station's waiting room (its very good actually) as I have to board 52457 Kalka - Shimla Passenger which departs Kalka at 03:30am from PF5, as soon as clock hit 00:00hrs I took the first ticket of the day for 52457. Then boarded the train, it wasn't much crowded. Then I captured a beautiful sunrise and after reaching at Shimla, I found that it was a very sunny day, explored nearby places, went to Mall Road all by walking as I have ample of time, then by 1:30pm I reached new bus stand (ISBT) and took a ticket for Delhi. The bus was non-AC but equipped with charging ports, it was Himachal Pradesh's govt. bus. It departed Shimla at 1:36pm and I reached Kashmere Gate ISBT Delhi at 11:00pm. I had a plan for going Nizamuddin Station by metro because after 8-9pm Taxi/Cab rates are very high but again due to traffic in Delhi outskirts my bus was delayed and at night its bit scary in going Kashmere Gate Metro Station from Kashmere Gate ISBT alone but then at metro station, I asked for the token of Jangpur (Purple Line) as it was near to Nizamuddin Station (and already the connecting metro for Red Line and Pink Line was departed) but I wasn't provided the token as the last metro was already departed. Then, I suddenly asked for New Delhi Station's token (Yellow Line) he provided me the token and I rushed to yellow line and caught the last metro which was going to HUDA City and deboarded at New Delhi Station. Then at New Delhi Station, I took a ticket for Nizamuddin Station and boarded 04440 New Delhi - Palwal EMU at 12:15am then stayed at Nizamuddin's Waiting Hall (In 2018 when I visited Nizamuddin Station, the same waiting hall was being constructed) its very good waiting hall actually.

So, I have booked tickets earlier in 12808 Samta Express which was in waiting (GNWL 139) and the charting time of the train was at 3:00am. I slept when I woke up, it was 3:45am and suddenly checked the status of my ticket, it was GNWL 2 🥹🥹 just GNWL 2 !!! I won't be more sad if it was GNWL 12.

Then as per plan I was going to take 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti from Nizamuddin to Nagpur and I took a General Superfast ticket from Nizamuddin to Raipur (₹360). But later when I checked current availability of 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express from Nizamuddin to Nagpur, I saw 64 tickets were available, I was aware that Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti's General Coaches go vacant so at one moment i thought i should not take it but I was bit exhausted so, at last moment I booked sleeper ticket from Nizamuddin to Nagpur (₹505), got Side Lower Berth but an old lady came and asked for my side lower and without a second thought I exchanged my side lower with her side upper berth, also the adjacent side lower berth was vacant so I shifted there. (We solo travelers always adjust our berths for someone's happiness/problem 😇) Actually this old lady is going to Tirupati Balaji for Darshan and coming all the way from Nainital, actually most of the passengers are going Tirupati Balaji's darshan.

Later I didn't cancel that online UTS ticket as I'll be taking the same 12808 Samta Express from Nagpur to Raipur after deboarding from 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express at Nagpur.

And after that I just slept peacefully and directly woke up at Gwalior Jn. and saw a military train 🇮🇳 adjacent to our train and then train was running 1hr late but it reached Jhansi Jn. with a delay of 20min.

[I'll update here again once I reach Nagpur or Raipur].

Reached Nagpur by 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti 7min before time (22:13hrs) and later boarded 12808 Samta Express from Nagpur in General Coach which too arrived 10min before time at Nagpur Jn. (00:25hrs). The scenes of General coach wasn't that horrific but yes ECoR's Maintenance sucks 🤮🤮 I got a seat comfortably till Raipur.

[Costings of this journey excluding food prices]
I have done all this journey in public transport 😉

1) 12549 Raipur to Jammu Tawi in 2AC: ₹2805
2) 04569 Ambala Cantt. to Kalka in GS: ₹50
3) 52457 Kalka to Shimla in GS: ₹50
4) Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Non AC Seater Bus (Ashok Leyland Made) Shimla (ISBT) to Delhi (ISBT) : ₹531
5) Kashmere Gate Metro Station to New Delhi Metro Station: ₹20
6) New Delhi Railway Station to Hazrat Nizamuddin Station in GS: : ₹30
7) 12708 (AP Sampark Kranti Express) + 12808 (Samta Express) Nizamuddin to Raipur in General Class Ticket: ₹360
8) 12708 Nizamuddin to Nagpur in Sleeper Class: ₹495
[₹4341]

This is my 4th Sampark Kranti Express class train ride after,
Chhattisgarh Sampark Kranti (Bilaspur - Nizamuddin),
Maharashtra Sampark Kranti (Bandra Terminus - Nizamuddin),
Karnataka Sampark Kranti (Nagpur - Nizamuddin) and
Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti (Nizamuddin - Nagpur) and this list will be continuing.

INAUGURAL RUN OF BILASPUR VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS FLAGGED OFF BY PM MODI

So, me and my fellow railfans planned to have our first ever get together at Rajnandgaon Station on the occasion of inaugural run of 01826 Nagpur Bilaspur Vande Bharat Special Express which was flagged off by Honorable PM Shri Narendra Modi, the train departed right time from Nagpur, at that time I boarded the 08705 R-DGG Memu from Raipur to Rajnandgaon.
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Along with me 3 railfan were also going to board the same memu but unfortunately they missed the train due to some misunderstanding. Later I got company of 1 more railfan from Durg and we were watching the inauguration of the train in YouTube live, 3 members who missed the memu then boarded 12854 Bhopal Durg Amarkantak Express from Raipur to Durg as it was running late and later they planned to take 12854 Puri Ahmedabad till Rajnandgaon inbetween 18030 Shalimar LTT Express was also running late and was ahead of 12853 Amarkantak Express so all of a sudden 18030 and 12854 (12854 made an unscheduled halt) arrived Bhilai Nagar at same time those members suddenly deboarded 12853 and hopped into 18030 and reached Rajnandgaon.

After that we guys had some chit chat and took some breakfast and thought of greeting Station Master of Rajnandgaon station and Loco Pilot of Vande Bharat Express with Bouquet because railway staff's work has never been appreciated or noticed and also the ticket for inaugural run of Vande Bharat Express was not made available for normal citizen and only the railway staffs and their families and media persons were allowed to board this train so, we atleast wanted to give special appreciation to these railways staff.

After that god has some good plans for us, we interacted with Station Master and Commercial Inspector sir and they really liked our appreciation and efforts so as a reward they issued us "Souvenir Ticket for Inaugural Run" on spot.

Man, It was an over whelming moment for us 🥺🥺🥺. We literally never expected this. It was like a jackpot for us. I can't describe that moment with words, we were excited as well as emotional (just mixed reactions) as this is going to be the inaugural of the most premium train of our SECR and before that, the premium train of SECR was 22867 Durg - Nizamuddin Humsafar Express.

Then the Vande Bharat Express train came, we boarded it with full of joy, we planned to deboard at Raipur Jn. but then thought these kind of moment doesn't come daily so decided to have a ride till its last stop Bilaspur Jn.

As it was the train's inaugural run so, it was taking halt at most of the small stations too so, that people from these small station can atleast see this train closely and board it for 50-60 second. The whole stations were overcrowded with public to welcome this Vande Bharat Express. People were taking pictures from track sides, road sides, highway side, bridges and what not. It was like, they were witnessing the engineering marvel in their very own city for the first time.

Inside the train we were welcomed with Rail Neer, Juices and after that we were provided some sort of snacks.

Honorable MP of Bilaspur Mr. Arun Sao was also travelling in this train till Bilaspur he interacted with all the passengers inside the train.

Also inside the train for the first time we, ever had interacted with Railway's Public Relation Officers and also gave some sort of interview to the assistant of Public Relation Officer.

The the train reached Bilaspur on time and again at Bilaspur a grand welcome was done for this train and some sort of cultural event was conducted near by the platform.

Later that even I with my fellow railfans boarded 13288 Rajendra Nagar - Durg South Bihar Express from Bilaspur to Raipur, Bhilai Power House.

[[ And lastly, one thing which I personally noticed for the first time was that, this train came at Platform 1 at Raipur Jn. (downline) otherwise PF1 of Raipur is most used for trains coming from Howrah Side and going to Mumbai side or Trains coming from Bilaspur Side and going to Vishakapatnam side. ]]

CRAZE FOR VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS

Back in 2015 or earlier in Railway Budget it was decided that Chhattisgarh will get its first semi-high speed train between Bilaspur and Nagpur and everyone thought just like New Delhi - Agra Cantt. Gatiman Express, there will be a Bilaspur Nagpur Gatiman Express.

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days passed, years passed no train was introduced between this route.

Then again a ray of hope ignited when PM of India said on Independence's Day that 75 Vande Bharat Express will be introduced on different routes and when the list came of proposed routes, there was the mentioning of Bilaspur - Nagpur Route.

And after few months of this news one of my cousin brother told me that his company has got tender for manufacturing some parts of these new 75 vande bharat express.

Then a shocking news came on 3rd December that on 11th December there will be inauguration of Bilaspur - Nagpur - Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express, there was a joy among SECR Railfans, our whatsapp group flooded with a lots of congratulating's messages, everyone was planning for the inauguration journey in the train.

3 Days later..

An update came that one rake of Vande Bharat Express dispatched from Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai on 6th December and the same rake was spotted by someone at Balharshah Junction on 7th December and later on the same evening an update came in our whatsapp group that the rake departed Gondia Jn at 18:05hrs and then a fellow railfan from Durg spotted the rake at Durg Jn and updated in the group that train departed Durg Jn. at 21:38hrs. So I decided to capture the same rake at Saraswati Nagar Level Crossing as it was near to me. I took my bike and went to the Level Crossing and suddenly saw 12070 Gondia Raigarh Janshatabdi (running late by 4hrs), after that 12129 Pune Howrah Azad Hind Express (running late by 7hrs), 13288 Rajendra Nagar - Durg South Bihar Express (running late by 2hrs) and 18241 Durg Ambikapur Express. In between one of the group member told in the group that the rake of Vande Bharat Express might bypass the Raipur Jn. so it won't cross the Saraswati Nagar Level Crossing and suggested me to go Sarona, it was bit far so I just went near AIIMS Raipur over bridge and saw that some goods train was standing in the bypass (Mumbai - Howrah) downline so I was pretty much sure that the rake will cross Saraswati Nagar Level Crossing so again went back to the same place with fingers crossed. This time Level Crossing Gate closed, my heartbeat went up, that rake will come now but.... two goods train crossed simultaneously and I was disappointed that whether the rake of Vande Bharat Express crossed by the bypass line or not. Then I said this will be the last time, if it will not come I'll go home. The Level Crossing Gate closed, one boy asked to gateman that 2 trains will cross or just a single one ? The gateman replied there is a signal for 1 express train in Mumbai Howrah downline, suddenly I turned my mobile camera up and the train came and hurrayyyyy it was the rake of VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS (SECR's first and own) VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS !!!!!! Then the gateman told that boy, that it seems like the new train. I couldn't resist myself and replied to the gateman, that its the new VANDE BHARAT EXPRESS and he acknowledged me 😉

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