Wednesday 5 February 2014

A Ride on a Boneshaker


Alarm set for an early start. Need not have bothered as the amplified call to prayer blasted out at 5.30.

Today is our first train ride for this trip  - an out and back circuit from Sealdah Station. There is no real traffic and our taxi deposits us in the chaos outside the station at 6.45.  It's R's turn to buy the tickets so she launches herself into the Ladies' queue. Two tickets for a 4 hour, 160 km train trip Rs 60/-.  No wonder Indian Railways cannot make any money!




We have time for breakfast - Masala Dosas with black tea and then wait for our platform to be announced. Eventually the number comes up and we join the throng heading to Platform 9C. The incoming EMU pulls in through the haze and there is an almighty stramash as those on try to get off and vice versa. We grab  a pair of seats opposite each other by the window.

Despite the distance that we are going his is a Kolkata local with wooden bench seating, doors that never close and windows that slide up letting in all of that lovely fresh air.  We are joined in our bay by a young family who consider us to be the entertainment. A couple of photos of the children and we are pals. D's Indian Rail Atlas is a big hit,especially with the young girl who is about 6.






The train fills up as we move through suburban Kolkata and by the time that we cross the 19th century Hooghly Bridge, built by engineers fom Motherwell, it is standing room only. This does not deter the  relentless tide of vendors with a full range of fruit,  snacks, houseware and table linen. One  sadist is selling toy football whistles. A nearby family buy one which is blown twice then confiscated by an embarrassed parent.


We arrive on time at Katwa and cross the footbridge to the Narrow Gauge station. There is just time to buy our tickets (10 rupees each) before the train arrives. This is a 5 car diesel multiple unit with a driving car at each end. Once again the locals fight their way on board while the other lot are still trying to get off. When it settles down there are still seats and R is sent to bag a pair while D wanders around and takes photos. Requests do not normally feature here but a fan from the Emerald Isle did request a shot of the bougainvillea.



Even  by Indian standards the train is a wreck. There had been reports that this 2'6" system had closed some time ago but this section is still running although nobody seems to know for how long this will continue. With photos taken D returns to his seat in a coach full of ladies who stare fixedly. Have we inadvertently chosen the Ladies compartment? Nobody speaks English so we are at a loss until a couple of local men take seats in the coach.

We leave 10 minutes late and head out across the rice paddies on a low embankment. The seats are hard, the coach vibrates and shakes and the track is so bad it would have been condemned on a UK Heritage line.It is easily the most uncomfortable train ride we have ever done. R resorts to painkillers while D stands at the open door. After 100 minutes of boneshaking we arrive at Balgona. The line from here onwards has been converted to broad gauge operated with EMUs. The tickets for this section are another Rs 10 -what expense!



Bardhamman Junction is chaos. The display boards with train information are not working and everybody is milling around on the footbridge trying to guess which platform their train will be on. At the enquiry desk we are told train on time Platform 5 or 6. We manage to hear a few of the announcements and it is obvious that there is a backlog of delayed long distance trains coming in from the west, ours included.



It arrives 40 minutes late and we soon find our Chair Class reserved seats. At last some relief for R's derriere.  We limp into Sealdah over 2 hours late, our social plans in ruins. The restaurant in the hotel has closed so we have to look elsewhere.  The Courtyard along the street turns out to be OK , especially after they turn down the music.

1 comment:

  1. Fascinating that you found out about this train (that even very few Bengalis know about) and took the journey :-) Congrats

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