A brief description of my trip in Bengaluru Chennai Mail on 19th October 2018 (Friday):
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As usual,Mail was allotted PF.No.1. The ERS intercity was resting on PF.No.4. PF.No.2,3 and 5 were empty which meant that the MAS SF hadnt arrived yet. It was scheduled to arrive at 20:05 hrs. I was given an SL berth in S3 just few coaches after the loco. As, we made our way towards the designated place for S3, people crossing the tracks were warned by blowing whistles to stay out of Mail's path. Mail, in the...
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customary way, was shunted in the reverse mode. UR people were running here and there just to make sure that they get a place in the 2 UR coaches. After Mail was shunted, a WDP4D from PF.No.3, left towards BNC so as to reverse and take charge of Kurla Exp to CBE. Then, Mail's ex-link LGD WAP7 30668 ( WAP7 in HOG Shell) took charge of Mail. In a short while, at around 22:10 hrs, Kurla arrived with a madly honking EMD after which the WDP4D took charge from SBC to CBE. Surprisingly, at 22:38 hrs, just 2 mins before Mail's departure, Kurla was given clearance and it proceeded towards CBE. I was dumbfounded to see Kurla arrive and depart with minimal delay after a long time. Thanks to the tweets,complaints and criticisms that the zones concerned received. Meanwhile, announcement was being made for MYS-TLGP Express. We got starter at 22:48 hrs. WAP7 honked and we were off to MAS. At SBC outer, late lateef Sangha led by ED P4 was made to wait for us to clear its way. At BNC, 3 hours late MAS SBC SF was waiting with RPM WAP7 30449. Just as we stopped, MAS SF departed. Meanwhile, GHY Express was waiting on PF.No.1A for its loco to arrive with passengers already settled in their coaches. After a 3 min halt, we departed from BNC and crawled till BNCE where we stopped. Then, a P4 type honk was heard. Now, it was not a P4 actually, it was the MAS Shatabdi with HOG WAP7 30538. 12027 thundered at full speed through BNCE. Such a grand and roaring skip that was. As I peeped through my window, Shatabdi's LPs were so nice that they flashed the headlight as 12027 neared my coach. (One Regret:Couldnt record it as a video). Then, we started from BNCE. And then we crawled and crawled. Kurla was trolling Mail like never before. And then in the distance, all of a sudden, green light was being flashed from a signal cabin before BYPL and the next signal turned green. And then Mail wanted to show what its true colour is.P7 honked and accelerated madly to MPS. We skipped BYPL with continuous honking with P7 in no mood to slow down. BYPL's platform extension work is almost done. At BYPL outer, a P4 led train was slowing down to get looped at BYPL to be overtaken by already late Lalbagh. It was all green for us. P7 thrashed KJM at MPS with the huge crowd waiting for Kaveri watched in awe as Mail roared through KJM. At the same time, poor Lalbagh after being overtaken by Shatabdi, delayed by more than 3 hours was arriving on PF.No.4 led by HOG RPM WAP7 30644. After crossing Lalbagh, I slept only to find Mail already entering PF.No.6 at MAS 12 mins before time.