Heading to the mountains is always a thrill, but a journey there by train turns out to be another adventure for at least first timers. My recent visit to my sister’s home at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University for Raksha Bandhan proved to be a masterclass in mountain transit.
The university is some 50 km from Jammu train station. But when the time came to leave, I stumbled upon a train that would take me back to my place from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra railway station, 6 km down the road, or, should I say, up the road. My sister and brother-in-law must have heaved a sigh of relief as they were to be spared a 100 km round trip in the dead of night just to drop me back at Jammu!
Within 15 minutes, I was at the grand Katra station. The security at Katra station is serious business; cars are kept strictly at bay, and luggage gets scanned both entering and leaving the station. Probably the security personnel want to be double-sure passengers have not accidentally packed a piece of mountain in their bags. The station is beautiful, with clean platforms.
My train rolled out of platform four on time. What followed was the ultimate game of peek-a-boo. The train plunged into a tunnel, burst out into the daylight for a minute on a bridge, and immediately ducked into another tunnel, followed swiftly by yet another. It was rhythmic: pitch-black darkness, breathtaking scenery, dizzying gorges, lush forests, tiny fields, and the occasional farmer busy in the field. At one point, the track curved so sharply that I was staring right back at the front of my own train!
The train breezed through the 77 km journey to Jammu in one hour and forty minutes, maintaining a respectable average speed of 46.2 km per hour, thoroughly impressive for the terrain. This short journey was just mesmerising. I look forward to riding a train from Jammu to Srinagar soon.
Kashmir is calling!
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Thanks for sharing Sachin