Kolkata Metro

February 7th, 2010.

It was a strict order by my father that I should railfan in Kolkata metro. I had been in Kolkata for sometime, but I haven't seen the metro but I have been to Bhubaneshwar, Naomundi, Chaibassa, Dangoaposi, Kendopaosi! My father called me more than 10 times in the past few months and requested or rather ordered me to railfan in metro! It is to be noted that my father has great opinions of IRFCA, moderators and Indian Railways. He is a railfan himself, but he hasn't got much knowledge about technical specifications, road numbers etc.

I boarded a share auto from Tank Number 8 in Salt Lake Sector-2 to Ultadanga(Bidhan Nagar station). It cost me Rs.8 and the share auto-driver was from Bihar. From Bidhan Nagar, I took an EMU to Dum Dum. This ticket costs me Rs.4. I reached Dum Dum at around 1100hrs. I was travelling in an EMU after a long time. I was surprised to find that metro trains don't run during the morning hours on Sundays. The service would start only at 1400hrs. I wondered what to do for the next three hours? I decided not to withdraw from the plan but decided to pass time in Dum Dum itself. WAG-5#23996 hauled a goods trains past Dum Dum at a slow speed. It changed tracks right infront of me. The speed was slow and not even 15kph. WAG-5HB came with Lalgola-SDAH passenger. I couldn't note the road number. I noticed a lot of freight train movements. The freight trains kept below 15kph and they were moving very slowly. I also noticed some officials travelling in a OHE inspection car.

BWN WDM-2#17416 ACD fitted loco arrived at Dum Dum with SDAH-Lalgola passenger at 1245hrs. I managed to pass time watching EMU's, freight trains and light locos. At 1340hrs I went down and purchased tickets upto Tollygunge(renamed as Maha Nayak Kumar station). My train departed on time at Dum Dum and the acceleration was simply fantastic. The motorman was driving as if he was Virender Sehwag chasing a score of 350 in 50 overs. I think that the maximum permissible speed was 55kph. Eventhough the MPS was less, the acceleration was too fast.

The patronage was too good. The track sounds were nice, but I should admit the surface rail sounds were even more better. But this was a new experience. I liked it. As the train moved out of Dum Dum, automated announcements came in Bengali and English updating passengers about the next station. Announcements were made when the train stopped at the station.

This is highly beneficial. You get to know the next station in advance and also you are reminded about the current station when the train stops. The train stopped only for a few seconds and the door closed automatically within few seconds. There was a sign near the door asking passengers not to lean on the door for support. Drivers and guards were in blue-shirt and dark pants with a smile on their faces. What's the reason? They seem to be enjoying their work.

The first station was Belgachia. The other stations(in order) were Shyam Bazaar, Shobha Bazaar, Girish Park, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Central, Chandni Chowk, Esplanade, Park Street, Maidan, Rabindra Sadan, Netaji Bhavan, Jatin Das park, Kalighat, Rabindra Sarobar and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar(Tolly Gunge). Later in 2009, the service got extended to Kavi Nazrul. But I got down at Tollygunge. If my knowledge is right, the train comes from the ground to surface after Tollygunge. I noticed that the track didn't have ballasts and there were no OHE's. I thought that the power for the train was drawn from the tracks. My train accelerated very fast and in no time it was touching MPS and it curved towards right heading towards Kavi Nazrul.

I didn't want to waste time so I decided to return as soon as possible. I used the subway and came to the otherside of the station. I had purchased the return ticket at Dum Dum itself. I decided to skip one train as it was very crowded. To my surprise the next train was also crowded. Ha! Things are not like Chennai over here!! I made up my mind that I should start in the next train. The next train was nearly 15 minutes late and it was crowded. I got into the first coach and stood in the corner all the way to Dum Dum. The train got more crowded in Maidan and it was crowded all the way till Dum Dum. Many people inside couldn't detrain and they even called their car-drivers to come and wait in other metro stations to pick them up.

I reached Dum Dum on time. I was the first person to come out of the coach. To my surprise, I noticed a lot of people rushing towards escalator. I thought that they were going to catch a connecting bus. I remembered onething at this point of time. This scene was quite similar to that of passengers getting down from Pallavan Express at Ariyalur and then rushing towards station entrance to catch a connecting bus to Thanjavur as the bus generally waits for passengers coming in 2605 Pallavan Express.

But I was wrong. My guess was wrong! Lots of people came from the train and within seconds the escalator was flooded. My goodness this was the reason! To avoid the rush, few people ran through the escalator and stairs. I took an EMU to Bidhan Nagar from Dum Dum. I returned in a shuttle taxi back to Sector-2, Salt Lake. My adopted pups were waiting for me. I went to the nearby shop to buy biscuits for them.

One day I will leave West Bengal. Everything has got an end. I hope that day is very far. I am not an emotional person but on THAT DAY I will cry irrespective of how happy I am in life. It would be a great loss to me.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-Howrah (Transferred from MAS in 2009)