Scenic rail trips -- Kangra Valley Railroad and others

sayantan13

@vasuki
The contact number you have given is not working !!!

freshair

i took this East-West route in late August. 42 hours without a single excitement. Every time I looked out, it was the same landscape, a few trees growing out of underwatered soil. Or we must have passed all the pretty spots during the night.

steven_ber

I have to agree, the plains aren't great to look at, I travelled Kolkata-Nadiad a few years back, great company on the train, but not too much to look at outside, at least compared to other areas of India.

__________________
.
How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

Crickneck

[quote=steven_ber;583075] the plains aren't great to look at


I can't agree with you more , steven. North Indian plains specially, have a depressing flatness for me, a dweller of the mountainous south. Having said that one of my most memorable train journeys was from Kolkata to New Jalpaiguri. The endless expanse of emerald green paddy fields broken by very pretty villages surrounded by tall trees rushing by made for a very pleasant afternoon.
It all came to a satisfying end as a very big, very red sun slowly sank beyond the green paddy sea. For a moment the dark green and the bright red were the only two colors in the universe.

__________________
Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you will understand what little chance you have of trying to change others.
- Jacob Braude

sayantan13

Recently went to travel to Chamba & Kangra circuit of HP & have got an excellent experience by traveling the narrow gauge train from Baijnath Paprola to Pathankot on KVR.
(took some stunning pictures, too )
Caught the train 2PBJ on 1st of October (2008) scheduled to departs at 10:45 AM from Baijnath Paprola & also luckily, that train had a First class compartment !

[before that, upon query, I came to know that a FC is attached daily with 1 train (for both up & down) out of 7 trains running daily both ways but they (Station Master or Enquiry on Pathankot) can't able to tell even just before 12 hours or so that the FC will be attached with particularly which specific train for a particular day. It is been attached randomized, no rule is followed, so you have to be extremely lucky to avail FC on KVR train.
Since these trains are used by a huge amount of locals of interior of Kangra Valley, huge rush is there in all the general classes. Even you can not be able to confirm a single sit from originating station if not present there at least one hour before the departure time.
Also, the fare difference is huge, too. Where fare in II nd class from Baijnath to Pathankot is only Rs. 23/., FC fare for the same is Rs. 200/. Usually, Railway Staffs use these FCs on duty, if available.
The Station Master of Baijnath (he himself has to sell the ticket, too ) had some trouble to find out the relevant papers for FC ticket as he can't recall the last instance when anyone "bought" a ticket in FC on this train ! ]

The whole journey was stunning with 2 Tunnels, Plenty of viaducts & rivers (mainly Banganga, a tributary of Beas), lots of lush green outfield & view of Pong Dam till Nurpur Road.
Had to face 6 crossing midway as its single line & the policy opted here for Xing is LIFO, i.e Last In First Out.

Reached pathankot almost 2 & half hours late but the great memory of this journey will remain for long.

freshair

i took the train but in the other direction, starting from Delwada, and stopped at Sasan Gir, didn't make it to Junagadh.
The auto ride from the bus station in Diu to the train station in Delwada cost me 150 rupees, while the 3 hour train ride was only 16 rupees. The train departs at 2:30 p.m., arrives in Sasan Gir around 6 p.m. and in Junagadh around 8 p.m. i think.

It never got too crowded, and since i'm a [foreign] girl i always got to sit. Except for a fight that broke down in the compartment next to mine, it was very enjoyable, lots of greenery. And my neighbors, an Indian lady with her son, kept feeding me with the snacks they bought from vendors throughout the journey.

bond007

I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread which lists scenic/interesting train rides... I couldn't find any such thread...

I'll start the list with the mountain trains of India which i've gone to... in descending order of beauty

1) Siliguri to Darjeeling train... 90+ kms long... Its beautiful
2) Pathankot to Joginder Nagar...
3) Kalka to Shimla... sooo many tunnels...
4) Mettapalayam to Ooty... Greeeeennnn
5) Neral to Matheran... Quaint

I just read and researched this one and sounds very nice...
6) Shimoga to Talguppa (Jog falls)

Others which i find scenic/interesting:
7) Karjat to Lonavala (Mumbai-Pune line): This is especially nice in the monsoon
8) Going to Rameshwaram... crossing the bridge over the sea... i forget the exact names
9) Konkan railways... i love the Goa to Mangalore section
10) Ernakulem to Alleppey... Loved the greenry
11) Jodhpur to Jaisalmer... desert views
12) Itarsi to Bhopal section... during monsoon
13) Gwalior to Agra... unique chambal views
14) Mangalore to Mysore section has opened recently... i've heard that its scenic... gotta try it

I'll post more as i remember them... Do add your own and your experiences...

Hal

Vizag to Araku is a nice journey through the Eastern Ghats.

Moderator's note: There is a fairly well established thread on scenic rail trips, so I will move this thread there.

bond007

Thanks Moderator... less threads the better...

Has anyone travelled in trains to the Northeast?
I've heard that its pretty scenic... Would be helpful to know which routes... I plan on going there after the summer...

steven_ber

Most train journeys in the north east are nice, I went from Siliguri (actually boarded the train in Delhi) to Guwahati, then Guwahati to Lumding, Lumding to Silchar, then back to Lumding (got to ride on the roof on this journey).

From Lumding I went to Margarita (near Ledo), then to Dibrugarh.

Lumding-Silchar was the most scenic, and that line now goes all the way to Agartala.

freshair

This one is in the south: from Punalur (KR) to Shencottah (TN). One of the few trains that cross the Western Ghats. Very impressive view, if you can manage to look out of the window 'cause it gets even more crowded than in a bus.

bond007

This is in the Kollam(Quilon) to Madurai line, right?
We took a train from Kollam to Madurai in '99 and it had some ghat section, but alas...the journey was in the night...

drgrudge

^^
This line is now closed for gauge conversion. The line is operational till Sengottai (from Virudunagar). Pothigai Express (Sengottai <--> Chennai) is operational now. Even the Sivakasi-Sengottai section is scenic. Authentic Tamil Nadu rural landscape, lush greenery everywhere.

Awesome route. 12 years back I travelled in the erstwhile Quilon Mail (Quilon-Madras) MG train after our Sabarimala pilgrimage.

NH 208 connects Sengottai and Kollam. You can take a train till Sengottai (from Virudunagar/Madurai/Chennai) and proceed towards Kollam in a car/bus.

pibikay

As usual I am a bit late.I just returned from a trip to Himachal.I wanted to try the train but I was told it was not running the full section

travel_lover_007

"I just returned from a trip to Himachal.I wanted to try the train but I was told it was not running the full section"

Could you please let me know in which section is the toy train operational?

Thanks.