A trip through Konkan Railway-1 August 10, 2007
Posted by Arun Rajagopal in India, Indian Railways, Travel.trackback
A rail journey through the scenic Konkan Railway is the Indian rail-fan’s ultimate dream. The first time I travelled through Konkan Railway was on 14 December 2006 – from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) to Kerala on the 6345 Netravati Express. It was one of my most scenic rail trips ever. I clicked a few snaps then on the LTT-Panvel-Roha-Chiplun stretch, promising to do a full-fledged rail-photography session in the future.
A few days later, I travelled again from Kerala to Madgaon on the 168 Trivandrum-Dadar Holiday Special. I clicked a few snaps again, mostly on the Honnavar-Asnoti-Madgaon stretch. From Madgaon, I travelled to Mangalore on the 2619 Matsyagandha Express, mostly clicking snaps of Mangalore when the train got there in the early morning.
This year, I travelled from Ernakulam to Dadar on the Ernakulam-Dadar Holiday special that left Ernakulam after midnight (8 June 2007). This gave me a chance to photograph the stretch from Kannur-Kasaragod-Kankanadi-Udupi-Bhatkal-Kumta-Cancona-Madgaon during daytime. Click here to view a Google Map of my trip.
The journey was exciting and featured the following:
- Nature shots around North Kerala – spectacular curves with moody, cloudy atmosphere & rocking diesel action.
- My holiday special train turned out to be special as it stopped almost at every station on the route – that meant more photo-ops.
- An encounter with a RORO train between Bhatkal and Kumta. Click here for the video.
- An encounter with a vehicle transport NMG train at Bhatkal.
- Photo-ops with WDMs at Kankanadi.
- Amazing greenery & plethora of water bodies along the Konkan route – did a ‘tree portrait’ shoot along the way.
- Meeting a friendly railwayman at Cancona. Watch out for the video!
- Lip smacking sandwiches from Madgaon.
- An encounter with an incredibly long freight train after Madgaon. Watch out for the video!
I have uploaded images of the Ernakulam-Dadar (UP) trip on Flickr. Click here to view them. There are 162 snaps in all. I will upload snaps from my return trip from Mumbai to Kerala (DOWN) trip soon.
Slide gives me an awesome way to give you a sneak preview of my images in this happening ‘8mm film treatment’. If you like what you see in here, you can head to Flickr. As always, your comments are welcome!
Here’s my pick of the best 5 snaps.
And this is my all time fav…
And here’s a sneak look at the entire lot.
very good
Arun,
India is so vast and so very beautiful, especially by rail. It is not hte image that we Americans have, I think, as Bombay is about the only picture we get of India. Thank you for sharing. And, yes, I do want to visit one day.
Arun,
YOU are ONE of a photographer! I told you already and I do it again!
Wow! I love the slide show with the scratches as well…
Your country is as seen through your eyes fascinating. I’d love to visit and discover all these beautiful sites with you to tell me all about it. The opportunity to have the side stories, the background of what we see on this planet is unique. I like to imagine that, like in a dream, one day this will come true.
Thank you for sharing… and please… keep doing it!
Arun, this is magical! Thank you for sharing these views. It’s a relief to know Indian Railway’s committment to women, too!
I was just trying to see the route my wife and children taking from Trichur in Kerala to Mumbai via Konkan Railway and stumbled upon Mr. Arun Rajagopal’s page. Breathtaking. I miss this particular train journey. I envy my wife and children on their return journey on 4th Sept. by Netravathy Exp…Sitting here in Kuwait…I am happy at least they are enjoying this new experience, since they were also living in Kuwait for the last 10 years…
I hope to travel on Konkan Railway in my next trip to India.
this is one of my dream route.. I liked your blog.
Hey, those are some real cool pics ! Good job! I am also planning for my Konkan trip some time end of this year. would be happy to know more about the route from you.
Thanks
thanks very good
I want to join in Konkan railway as a Staff of HR Deptt. I am already working in HR deptt. of Howrah Division under Eastern Railway. My present designation is Staff & Welfare Inspector. I have 21 years experience in Indian railway. Hope Ishall be cosidered for joining in Konkan Railway.
ARUN RAJAGOPAL,
HI I AM SANJAY KHEDEKAR MY VILLAGE NAME IS GOREGAON YOUR PHOTO IS VERY GOOD AND KOKAN IS VERY BUTIFULLY . MY FRIEND SHARAD IS VERY ACTIVE IN YOUR PHOTO PLEASE MAIL MY E-MAIL ID - sanjay38.1982@rediffmail.com.
YOUR FAITHFULLY
SANJAY KHEDEKAR.
Yes dear Sanjay konkan is even more beutiful in raini weather i really miss my village.
hi ,arun can u tell me from which station to other should i book
ticket n buy which train so i can enjoy my journey best .
Dear Mr. Sanjay,
Its superb, very nice pictures, wish to travel through Konkan.
Boss
Its Great. We are planning to travel via that route on that train itself this week.
Going by Bus and returning via train.
I hope it will be a marvelous journey.
Thanks again for those mind blowing photos.
Thank you for your information Arun. Its really been amazing to see the pictures. When i saw these pictures i had started searching for the ebooking. I search for the Konkan railways. It ws very hard to find the ticket availability in the official website. it takes to long to load and lots of pop-up advertisements. i finally booked my tickets on 30th of August. I was made up easy to find the ticket availability in these http://www.indiantrains.org/ , http://www.indiantrains.org/ticket-availability/ . Friends if you want to book any tickets or to find the trains you can use this sites it will more helpful.