Doing a Week trip - Del - Kanyakumari (via Chennai) - Mumbai (via trivandrum) - Delhi

minkatheb

Hello everyone!

I am planning the trip to visit Kanyakumari and Mumbai, and would REALLY appreciate your comments on my trip or the trains because it will be the first time I will be traveling south. I will be traveling with my mom.

Here it goes:

July 19 Sat - 2642 THIRUKKURAL EXP NZM 06.00 CAPE 08.40 Travel time 50.40

July 21 Mon - Reach Kanyakumari station at 08:40

July 24th, Th - Take the bus/train to Trivandrum and catch (there are several options, but we would like to leave on Thursday)
1. 2202 LTT GARIB RATH KCVL 08.50 LTT 14.55 30.05; or take
2. 2431 RAJDHANI EXP TVC 19.15 BSR 00.30 29.15 (but would I miss seeing the natural views of Goa etc on the latter line?)

July 25th - Get to Mumbai
July 28th - Leave Mumbai via Rajdhani Express

I have heard the Western coast is really beautiful so on my trip from Trivandrum to Mumbai, I would really like to be able to check it out.

If you could please share ny experiences with any of these trains would be much appreciated.

I have no problems completely reversing my trip and going to Mumbai first, but I was having trouble finding a shorter return trip as the trains from Kanyakumari to Delhi do not run so often.

If you would like me to be more specific in any way, please chime in.

Thanks in advance, and I welcome any kind of comments and suggestions.
babA

Jean-Philipe

Sounds like a pretty train-intensive week of travelling. Worth spending the extra for 2A or even 1A for the comfort factor. Unfortunately, since the A/C windows are tinted, you wont see as much of the passing scenery as you would in non-A/C.

__________________
It's all part of the adventure of travelling!

minkatheb

yes..it's pretty train intensive. May be, if I split the journey from Delhi to Kanyakumari a bit?

How about the following?

2622 TAMIL NADU EXP NDLS 22.30 MAS 07.10 32.40

Then, layover in Chennai for about 10 hours...may be visit the city in that time? And then catch.

2633 KANYAKUMARI EXP MS 17.25 CAPE 06.30 13.05

This cuts the TRAIN trip from Delhi to Kanyakumari to about 46 hours... instead of 50 hours...

Jean-Philipe

Don't have my train timetable handy, so I'm not sure about the relative advantage of west coast or east coast route. Just outside Chennai Central there are travel agents offering a day tour of the city for about Rs 300.

I'll be in the vicinity of Chennai then. Let me know when your plans are confirmed. Maybe we can meet for coffee.

vsp27759

Dear minkatheb,

Today is 13th July,2008. Have you reserved your tickets by anyone of the trains you thought of?
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If you have already booked by 2642, stick to it. Don't miss the Gwalior-Datia Section where up & down lines criss-cross twice.

Hymz

Hello Srinivas,

What does the line criss crossing means?

Cheers
Hymz

__________________
A journey is transportation of the mind ---> If you can transport your mind ---> the location does not matter !!

vsp27759

Dear Hymz,

Assume that you are travelling from Gwalior to Mumbai by Punjab Mail.
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On your right side is UP-line and the line on which you are travelling is DOWN-line.
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A little after Gwalior there is OMEGA Curve.
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After this curve, the Down Line flies over the Upline and goes to the other side. Thus the Up-line will come to your left-hand side.
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After travelling like this for some time, again your line flies over the UP-line and comes to its original position.

skk

Well, according to the Indian Railways' website, this is the route for each of these trains:
Selected Train RAJDHANI EXP, 2431 -
Date (DD/MM/YYYY) 17/07/2008
STATION CODE CAHNGED STATION NAME ARRIVAL DEPARTURE
TVC TRIVANDRUM CNTL Starting Station 19:15, 17 Jul 2008
ERS ERANAKULAM JN 22:30, 17 Jul 2008 22:35, 17 Jul 2008
TCR TRICHUR 23:52, 17 Jul 2008 23:55, 17 Jul 2008
SRR SHORANUR JN 00:40, 18 Jul 2008 00:45, 18 Jul 2008
CLT CALICUT 02:23, 18 Jul 2008 02:25, 18 Jul 2008
CAN CANNANORE 03:58, 18 Jul 2008 04:00, 18 Jul 2008
KNKD KANKANADI 06:00, 18 Jul 2008 06:10, 18 Jul 2008
UD UD 07:28, 18 Jul 2008 07:30, 18 Jul 2008
KAWR KAWR 10:40, 18 Jul 2008 10:42, 18 Jul 2008
MAO MADGAON 12:20, 18 Jul 2008 12:30, 18 Jul 2008
SWV SAWANTWADI ROAD 14:14, 18 Jul 2008 14:16, 18 Jul 2008
RN RATNAGIRI 17:05, 18 Jul 2008 17:10, 18 Jul 2008
PNVL PANVEL 22:55, 18 Jul 2008 23:00, 18 Jul 2008
BSR VASAI ROAD 00:29, 19 Jul 2008 00:30, 19 Jul 2008
BRC VADODARA JN 05:14, 19 Jul 2008 05:15, 19 Jul 2008
RTM RATLAM JN 07:00, 19 Jul 2008 07:01, 19 Jul 2008
KOTA KOTA JN 12:00, 19 Jul 2008 12:10, 19 Jul 2008
NZM H NIZAMUDDIN 18:50, 19 Jul 2008 Destination Station

Selected Train LTT GARIB RATH, 2202 -
Date (DD/MM/YYYY) 17/07/2008
STATION CODE CAHNGED STATION NAME ARRIVAL DEPARTURE
KCVL KOCHUVELI Starting Station 08:50, 17 Jul 2008
QLN QUILON JN 09:40, 17 Jul 2008 09:45, 17 Jul 2008
KTYM KOTTAYAM 11:15, 17 Jul 2008 11:20, 17 Jul 2008
ERN ERNAKULAM TOWN 12:35, 17 Jul 2008 12:45, 17 Jul 2008
TCR TRICHUR 14:00, 17 Jul 2008 14:05, 17 Jul 2008
SRR SHORANUR JN 15:15, 17 Jul 2008 15:20, 17 Jul 2008
CLT CALICUT 16:55, 17 Jul 2008 17:00, 17 Jul 2008
CAN CANNANORE 18:30, 17 Jul 2008 18:35, 17 Jul 2008
KNKD KANKANADI 21:00, 17 Jul 2008 21:10, 17 Jul 2008
UD UD 22:23, 17 Jul 2008 22:24, 17 Jul 2008
BIJR BIJOOR HALT 23:17, 17 Jul 2008 23:18, 17 Jul 2008
ANKL ANKOLA 01:16, 18 Jul 2008 01:18, 18 Jul 2008
KAWR KAWR 01:45, 18 Jul 2008 01:47, 18 Jul 2008
MAO MADGAON 02:45, 18 Jul 2008 02:55, 18 Jul 2008
KRMI KARMALI 03:28, 18 Jul 2008 03:30, 18 Jul 2008
SWV SAWANTWADI ROAD 04:18, 18 Jul 2008 04:20, 18 Jul 2008
RN RATNAGIRI 07:15, 18 Jul 2008 07:20, 18 Jul 2008
PNVL PANVEL 13:25, 18 Jul 2008 13:30, 18 Jul 2008
LTT LOKMANYATILAK 14:55, 18 Jul 2008 Destination Station


As you can see the stops are identical up to Panvel on either of the trains - that's almost south of Bombay and the train route is the Konkan Railway route, from Kankanadi atleast ( http://www.konkanrailway.com/website/ehtm/krclmap.htm ) as per me, so... you should get the scenery on either train.

But, better get this verified by someone more intimate with this - at this moment in my knowledge base, on this subject I'm like HRF Keating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._R._F._Keating, the author of crime novels about Bombay Police Inspector Ghote. Apparently HRF Keating's knowledge of Bombay was just by reading - he'd never been !

I'm not that bad, I have been to India several times but my brother has always done all the train bookings, hotel bookings, the lot actually so I know nuthin' - and incidentally, thanks for your post and giving me the opportunity to really delve into how that Indian railway website and the train enquiry set of pages and get a a little better sense of how this all works - I'm determined to fend for myself this forthcoming trip to India onwards.

-skk