Upload no. 155- The magic of Metre Gauge Railways; Indian Railways
Metre Gauge network of Indian Railways has always been an Interesting part; worthy of exploring, admiring, traveling and capturing. In my recent trip to the North and Western parts of India, I got an opportunity to travel in the MG trains traversing these parts, Part1 of which i am presenting to you now.
In this compilation, I present a coverage of the MG network near Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. My Journey started from Izzatnagar Railway Station where the diesel loco shed for the cute little YDM4s is also located. Initially my friends and I wanted to board the 05:00 hours shuttle to Pilibhit, we were slightly tardy in getting up and missed that train. We took the next service, at 06:30, the 15314 Express service to Aishbagh. We got more than what we bargained for. The 06:28 BG passenger service to Lalkuan was slightly late that day and departed parallel to us.
Initially the YDM4 hauled express took advantage of a slowdown on the BG line due to a speed restriction. And as we moved ahead, a few hundred meters later, there was a speed restriction on our line, result of which- the BG pass overtook us with glee and raced towards its next halt; Dohna. As the BG pass completed a scheduled halt in Dohna, the YDM4 hauled express was able to accelerate and overtake the BG pass in style.
The MG express was the first to reach the bifurcation point - Bhojipura Jn. from where the BG pass was allowed to proceed first; as it had caught up with us at the station. After the BG pass proceeded towards Lalkuan, the MG Aishbagh exp negotiated a huge right hand curve and accelerated towards Pilibhit. The crossings en-route were the Gokul exp at Saithal, and the Pilibhit-Izzatnagar Pass at Shahi.
The MG lines of North Eastern Railways are a very small network now compared to what they were a few years ago. Presently the longest undivided line extends from Izzatnagar in Bareilly to Aishbagh in Uttar Pradesh, a 311kms stretch. The Nainital exp and Izzatnagar-Bareilly exp ply on this route, but the longest running express train is the Gokul express which reverses at Mailani Jn. and covers a 384km distance from Izzatnagar to Gonda Jn. Apart from these there are 2 other branch off lines from Pilibhit Jn., a small 62kms stretch upto Tanakpur, and another 83km long line which leads to Shahjahanpur Jn. on the Bareilly-Lucknow BG lines.
Apart from these MG express trains mentioned above, there are a few other express trains too in this stretch. One is the Ruhelkhand express, a Jansadharan type train, full of UR coaches which plies like a day time Intercity train between Izzatnagar and Aishbagh. Other one is the Sanctuary express which plies between Aishbagh and Palia Kalan.
Please Watch and Enjoy Part 2 coming soon.
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