A high speed show by the Queen of ER -- 12313 Sealdah New Delhi Rajdhani Express - between Kanpur Central and New Delhi, covering the intervening 439 kilometres in 5 hours at an average speed of nearly 88 kmph. Lead by a Ghaziabad WAP7, we reach Kanpur on bang on time, a little before sunrise, followed closely by the Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani, with a Ghaziabad WAP7. Our departure from Kanpur coincides with the Kanpur Farukkhabad, resulting in a brief parallel action. The Andal WDG3 noisily chugs away, honking loudly and initially, gains on the Rajdhani. However, once the points are cleared and we enter the mainline, the WAP7 briskly accelerates and cruises past the passenger. On our exit from Kanpur towards Govindpuri, we are met by the Avadh Express and the Sangam Express, led by WAP4s from Vadodara and Kanpur respectively. We blaze away westwards through the plains of Uttar Pradesh and race through the station of Etawah, covering 138 kilometres in a mere 73 minutes and continue at our frenetic pace, till Tundla, where the mandatory speed restrictions reduce our passage to a crawl. The progress however has been spectacular, 229 kilometres in 118 minutes, maintaining an average speed of 116 kmph! A senior citizen from the Ghaziabad shed -- a WAP1 -- meets us as we negotiate Tundla, with the Agra Cantt Lucknow Intercity Express. As we hurtle towards Aligarh, I take up position by the door and actively note the signal on the adjacent line. It flickers to green on the outskirts of Aligarh and with a silent prayer on my lips, I spring the door open and prepare myself for the 'crossing'. As we curve left towards Aligarh, a speck of white becomes visible on the adjacent track, growing at an imperceptible pace. Our speed of around 120 kmph helps to make the speck larger and the outline of a Ghaziabad WAP5 becomes visible. I start cursing the LP for crawling out of his halt at Aligarh, sure that some staff of the train would spot me and order me to retreat from my position. Luck however is with me as the Ghaziabad WAP5 zooms past with the 20 coach Lucknow Shatabdi Express and we rip through Aligarh and 115-120 kmph. The high speed show continues through Khurja -- which we cross at around 125-130 kmph -- right to the gates of Delhi, covering 414 kilometres to Ghaziabad in 4 hours at an average speed nearly touching 104 kmph! There was one planned slowdown prior to Khurja, where we slammed the brakes and ground to a halt with three green lights ahead. Immediately, a pantry staff rushed out with a couple of trays and passed them to the two loco-pilots: after all, one cannot drive on an empty stomach. As we accelerated out, a Howrah WAP7 came screaming by, with the legendary Kalka Mail! Tired of aerodynamic electrics, I was eagerly awaiting some diesel action from the Moradabad/Saharanpur side at Ghaziabad. To my surprise though, the last coach of an LHB rake seemed clearly visible on one of the platforms -- something seemed rather amiss. My surprise turned to horror as we abandoned the mainline and entered one of the loops to cross Ghaziabad -- the stranded LHB rake on the platform belonged to none other than our elder cousin -- Howrah Rajdhani Express. For some bizarre reason, we overtook her, and the Bareilly Intercity, and proceeded westwards. Buoyed by our upstarting of the nation's first Rajdhani, we charged passed the WDP1 led Saharanpur Delhi Passenger and almost immediately after, our luck deserted us. First we slowed down on our approach to Sahibabad. There was some strong chugging behind us as the WDP1 caught up with us and chugged into Sahibabad, while we screeched to a halt at the same station. Worse still, the passenger was permitted to leave before us and proceeded with much glee towards Delhi. I had almost fallen into a trance as a result of being outgunned by a passenger and only the tell-tale shriek of a WAP7 aroused me from my slumber. Evidently, we had been placed on to the loop line at Sahibabad, and soon enough, a grumpy looking Ghaziabad WAP7 swung into view, and grimly proceeded past. Craziness epitomized: it was none other than the Howrah Rajdhani, whom we had left behind 10 minutes back at Ghaziabad. I understand that we are talking about the 'King' here, the 'ER King', but the rationale behind allowing us to proceed at Ghaziabad, and pulling us over to make way for the 'King' a few minutes later, completely escaped me! Nonetheless, the subsequent passage to New Delhi was rather uneventful and we pulled into the station, adjacent to the Howrah Rajdhani, right on time at 10:20.

• published: 26 Apr 2013
• views: 62403