CDAC: My Second Home (Part Five)

The Train Travel: between first home and second home 

Kasto mazza hai lelaima
Ramailo o kaali odhali

It means "How much fun it is when train goes up and down on track (hilly areas)”. These lyrics are from the film Parineeta (it changed my name from Pranita to Parineeta during Junior college). Ok, back to the topic. The Mumbai local also goes up and down, not on hilly areas but on the rail cross bridges. The journey to CDAC was as memorable as the CDAC journey. I, now, miss those Monday Mornings and Friday Evenings. 

There are different routes to reach Kharghar from Virar, touching all the three viz. Western, Central and Harbour lines:

Route 1: Dahanu – Panvel (Dahanu – Virar – Vasai – Kopar – Panvel – Kharghar)

Route 2: Virar – Kharghar via Wadala Road (Virar – Andheri – Wadala – Kurla – Kharghar)

Route 3: Virar – Kharghar via Dadar (Virar – Dadar – Kurla - Kharghar)

I always kept switching between Route 1 and Route 2. Let’s go with Route 2 and come back with Route 1. 

From source to destination:

The journey begins at Virar Platform no. 1 Churchgate Fast local [C 06:54 F 00]. It goes through Nalla Sopara, Vasai Road and Naigaon. You get to see the hilly ranges towards the left and plain grounds towards the right and fresh air all around. As the train departs from Naigaon station, the air gets a little cold. There comes the Bhayander creek. Our speedy train crosses it in one minute. You get to see a mini-island on the left-side and a lot of fishing boats on the right. 

 

Bhayander Creek

The train moves ahead to the Mira Road station. You can view the salt-pans on the right-side. 

Salt pans at Mira Road

The next station is Dahisar, followed by Borivali. As it is a fast train, it does not halt at any station between Borivali and Andheri. It goes at the speed of 50km/hr. It stops at Andheri Platform no. 5; I get down with my bag and literally run to Platform no. 8 for the Panvel Slow local [PN 07:42 S 00]. It’s a slow train so it will halt at all the stations now. It goes through Vile Parle, Santacruz and Khar Road. As the train departs from Khar it climbs up the rail cross bridge covering the complete path between Khar and Bandra and climbs down entering the Platform no. 7 at Bandra. 

Khar - Bandra cross bridge

The next is Mahim Junction where we say goodbye to the Western Railway taking a different track towards Harbour line. It crosses over the Central lines and reaches King Circle, the flyover station. For a few minutes, it seems like I am travelling in the air. On the way to Wadala, there is again a rail cross bridge over the slums. It’s a scary one because there is only one track and no safety. If ever anyone happens to fall from the train (touch wood not), that person will have a “Chappar tod entry” into one of the houses below.

Towards Wadala

And we reach the Wadala station Platform no. 3. The train halts for a few minutes and then the journey on the Harbour line begins. We travel through GTB (Guru Tegh Bahadur) Nagar, Chunabhatti and meet the Central Railway at Kurla station. Then the train tracks towards Tilak Nagar; followed by Chembur, Govandi and Mankhurd. As it departs from Makhurd, we say goodbye to Mumbai and are greeted with a warm welcome and cold breezes by Navi Mumbai at the Vashi Bridge.

Vashi Bridge

The stations of Navi Mumbai are well maintained and people can alight and aboard the train from both sides; unlike our roofless platforms and same door entry-exit. But the trains are 9 couch, we have all 12 couch and 15 couch trains on Western line. 

Stations at Navi Mumbai

We move to Sanpada station. Two routes join this station; one is ours and the other is Thane - Panvel route. The train now travels ahead to Jui Nagar, followed by Nerul. Then comes Seawood Darave; I call it the station under construction. Then the surroundings of the rail track grow dense with the flora. The train goes through a tunnel and climbs an elevation and we reach CBD Belapur.

Approaching CBD Belapur

As the train departs from Belapur, the announcement goes like "Next station Kharghar, Agla station Kharghar, Pudhil station Kharghar". And I get ready with my bag and alight at 9am here. There are many college students getting down here; mostly from D.Y.Patil Institute. Finally, I reached the destination.

Kharghar Station

From destination to source:

I never like to backtrack. I will never follow the same route, when there are options available. Laxmi aunty used to drop me at Kharghar station on her AVIVA scooty. I will quickly take the ticket from Smart Card box and board a Panvel train. If you miss one Panvel local then you have to wait for another 10 minutes for the next one. I cannot take this risk because I may end up late at Panvel and miss my other train. Once you get a Panvel, the journey starts. The next station is Mansarovar followed by Khandeshwar. The Harbour line is true to its name because there are many small water bodies between its stations. Finally we arrive at Panvel station; a look alike to Churchgate and CST.

Panvel Station (Part I)

Now again I have to take the ticket for Panvel - Dahanu MEMU; no worries there is Smart Card to rescue from those long ticket lines. If I reach well before time then I even recharge the card. Let’s move to the platform where my train will arrive. All the outstation trains go via this route. There will always be a Kochiveli and Delhi Nizamuddin Express on either sides of the platform. Apart from this trains, there are those goods and oil container trains.

Panvel Station (Part II)

I will wait on the bridge until my train arrives. At last the lady announces "69161 Panvel - Dahanu MEMU (Mainline Electric Multiple Unit) is arriving". I catch the middle ladies compartment. Now just relax and enjoy the journey reading a book or solving a MGPA program or just look outside the window. The train timing is DN 06:34:00 PM but it always departs after 06.45pm saying goodbye to the Harbour lines. The next station is Kalamboli. 

Kalamboli Goods

Now onwards all the stations are similar like not much crowd on the platform and quiet like those of the horror movies. Then we go through Navade Road followed by Taloja Panchnand. Taloja station gives prominent signs of human existence near the station. The train ride further resembles like that of Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter. You get to see beautiful scenes of hilly ranges and also a waterfall during rainy season. It seems to be that hard rocks were broken to make this train route. Then we arrive at Nilaje station. The next station is Dativali. It would be interesting to find how the stations got these names. When the train departs from Dativali, it takes a long curve in left direction and then a similar one in right direction. We may keep wondering that it’s going round and round. Actually it is joining the Central Railway lines. And it climbs the rail cross bridge over the central lines and enters the flyover station named Kopar. There is a central line station Lower Kopar below.Here, we say goodbye to Central lines.

Kopar (Upper and Lower)

A lot of commuters board this train. This is a short-cut to reach Vasai. Now the path ahead has got tall bridges to cross over the big pipelines, a river, etc. Have a look at one of those:

On Bridges

Now again the series of silent stations (with strange names) having only the goods trains for company. It starts with Bhiwandi Road, followed by Kharbao and Kaman Road.

Bhiwandi station

The next is Juchandra, we get to see the Chandika Devi temple.

Chandika Devi temple

Again the train travels through the green surroundings. It takes a deep right turn and joins the Western lines. So then we reach Vasai Road; most of the public alights here. Then it’s Nalla Sopara. And when I see the below picture, it’s time to alight. I am back to home.

Jivdani temple, Virar

Thanks to CDAC for the journey on those Monday mornings and Friday evenings; travelling through a lot of stations, watching the sky and the sea, the sunsets and moonlights, etc.

 

Read next: CDAC: My Second Home (Part Six)