Negligible traffic @ Panvel!

The monsoon fury was at its peak yesterday. While browsing the internet during the night, I stumbled across the news that many trains were "Regulated" on Konkan Railway. I tried to find out the reason, but in vain. I slept with this big question in mind. I jumped out of bed in the morning, and checked out for the reason. I reached this article. The article said the news, which fortunately, did not happen so long - Landslide on KR! Every year this "incident" occurs in Maharashtra, but it seems mother nature wanted a difference this time. She shifted the drama to Goa - Canacona to be precise!

Heavy landslides affected traffic on the entire route. Kerala bound Netravati and Mangala Expresses, along with Mangalore bound Matsyagandha Express were detained at different stations. The Mumbai bound trains were no different. Mumbai bound Matsyagandha was terminated half way through the journey!

I decided to get a taste of the information, and set out for Panvel station. I reached there are 1245. The Ratnagiri-Dadar Passenger was to arrive soon. The ticket counter was crowded, and many people had to return dejected! The "Information" board had every inch of it taken with notice written by the railway staff. The board read:

2618 NZM-ERS Mangala RT
6345 LTT-TVC Netravati RT
KR4 RN-DR "Savari" RT
2619 LTT-MAQ Matsyagandha CANCELLED
2620 MAQ-LTT Matsyagandha INDEFINITE
2617 ERS-NZM Mangala INDEFINITE
6346 TVC-LTT Netravati INDEFINITE
6336 NCJ-GIMB Exp INDEFINITE
2431 TVC-NZM Rajdhani INDEFINITE

The board was crying out for more space. When a person asked for a ticket to "Gorakhpur" on Mangala Express (The train doesn't go there, but passengers reach their destination with one change over), the person at the counter irritatedly said "Gaadi Bees Ghanta late hai, Tikat chahiye?" (The train is late by 20 hours. Do you still want a ticket?). I purchased a platform ticket and walked in.

The PA system was abuzz announcing the arrival of KR4 from Ratnagiri. I check the board inside the station, which said everything as the board outside, but the status of 2620 shown inside was a bit different. The board read:

2620 MAQ-LTT Matsyagandha EXPECTED TERMINATE AT MADGAON

(The train actually got terminated at Karwar itself! Makes sense - The spot of landslide was just around 25kms from where the train was terminated. There is no meaning in making the passengers & the train wait for infinite time, for a journey that would other wise take around 12 hours - from there!)

A Manual announcement said that the KR4 passenger has already neared the station. I was ready with my camera, when I noticed a police personnel roaming around. I aborted the mission, but stood there itself. The loco came and stopped right next to me. I adored the brown beauty from Pune shed. The GRP fellow was there to collect his hafta from tea vendors (commission is paid by tea/snack vendors to carry out their business in the station - which is other wise NOT permitted!). He walked away, and the starter turned amber (the train is on the loop line - green starter is given only for trains on the main line). I clicked images as the loco blew her horn right before departure. (The loco was WDM2 #17616 of Pune)



Announcements were now being made about the Trivandrum bound Netravati Express. Today, Netravati was carrying additional burden - all the passengers who would have other wise taken the Matsyagandha Express!!! I walked over to the FOB, and found the train already pulling in! There was no time for me to walk down to the platform (rather a secluded place on the platform) to take pics! I'll have to be happy with one image from the FOB itself. The train was "thankfully" taken on Platform 2 instead of Platform 3!

The loco was now throbbing her way inside. The Loco (From Ernakulam Shed) seemed to be too tired, and the loco was in urgent need of a coat of paint!



The loco was WDM2 #16673 of Ernakulam. The train had 22 coaches instead of the usual 21 coaches (a High capacity parcel van was also attached to the rake). I clicked the image, and decided to check out the other rakes at the station. There were two BCNA rakes in the station today. Both the rakes, had locos on both the ends of the rake! One train had twin Kalyan WDM2s (towards Diva) leading, and Kalyan WDG3A #13302 banking at the rear. The other rake had twin Kalyan WDM2s at the JNPT end, and a WCAG1 at the other end.

I received a call from my mom, and had to return at 1330 itself. I took just two images today, and both are posted right here. Better versions, with all the photos of this month can be seen here. Thank you for your patient read in case you managed to reach here. I'll try out to find more updates on this landslide soon...

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