Journey From Hyderabad to Bombay - Part 1

Travelling in India is an experience that can be both good, bad or even downright painful. But most of the time its a fun experience. India has one of the largest networks of rail system in the world and it is backbone of long distance travels. It is still today the cheapest mode of transport for the common man! Although with the advent of low cost carriers the upper class travellers (First Class, AC Two/Three Tier) are now using planes. But then this is a very small percentage of the population. For a common man, to travel from Hyderabad to Bombay by second class sleeper compartment would be around Rs. 300 (or less) which is 10 SGD. The distance is 790 KM and takes 17 hours. Not because the train is slow. Its because there are many stops in between and also a wonderful stretch of mountain pass just before Bombay.

My journey started from Hyderbad railway station. I boarded 10 minutes before departure. The train aptly labelled Mumbai Express N0 7032 Down left Hyderbad station at 8:40 PM. I had a seat in the AC Three tier compartment. The train has 17 compartments and a diesel engine pulling it. From Hyderabad to Pune, its diesel powered. From Pune to Bombay its electric powered. So there is a change of engine at Pune. The next few pictures show the train approaching Pune Junction. As you can see the electrical wires or Overhead Transmission cables but the engine lugging my train is still diesel.



Indian railway stations are a hub of activity. And you get the local food depending on which part of the country the station is located. The busier the stations the frenzier the action. Believe me when I say that train stations are a source of immense fascination. They are not exactly like Singapore stations. Clean, neat etc. Here, its more of managed chaos. But damn! what a great chaos. You will have vendors selling so much type of food and drinks, that you will want to eat ALL of them. You can see from the picture the hustle bustle of activity. Over the years the train livery colours have changed. Now they seem to prefer this ugly blue on blue color which sometimes makes me wonder how much money was wasted to pick this. You can see the train name in three languages. Typically, it will be in Hindi, English and third language is either the originating station language of destination.