"The Last Ride of 2022"

I boarded the 12549 Durg - Jammu Tawi SF Express from Raipur Jn. with 10minutes of delay. I was planning for a Shimla Solo Trip (Just for Toy Train). I didn't book any further tickets and return journey tickets. So when 12549 reached Bilaspur there was no delay but as soon as the train departed after locomotive reversal from Bilaspur, it stopped at Bilaspur outer for approx. 1hr and then reached its 1st halt after Bilaspur i.e Pendra Road with a delay of 1.5hrs 😶. Later for...
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dinner I checked "Food on Track" app and ordered dinner from Saugor station where my train's scheduled arrival was of 23:15hrs but it reached there by 01:15hrs i.e with a delay of 2hrs. I wasn't expecting that I'll be getting my dinner there but thanks to the vendor who served my dinner very freshly. After having my dinner I thought of booking my return ticket so I took a Waiting Ticket in 12808 Samta Express from Delhi to Raipur as if my ticket doesn't confirm then I might travel in General Class of 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express from Delhi to Nagpur and later from Nagpur I'll take 12808 Samta Express till Raipur, this was going in my mind. After that I slept. Inbetween when I woke up train was about to reach Jhansi Jn at 6:45am and it was heavily delayed by 5hrs 😱. Again I slept, when I woke up finally train arrived Gwalior Jn. at 9:00am with a delay of 6hrs, my mood got off. Later it reached Delhi with a delay of 7hrs and my plan for catching the 04569 Ambala to Kalka Express from Ambala at 6:22pm to Kalka was destroyed.

Suddenly I checked the next trains from Ambala to Kalka and I found that 14331 Old Delhi - Kalka Express was cancelled and I was in no mood in taking 12005 New Delhi - Kalka Shatabdi from Ambala to Kalka so tried to explore options by road but later decide to waste some bucks in 12005 New Delhi Kalka Shatabdi as I wanted to take the earliest train from Kalka to Shimla to capture sunrise 😀 but as the time was passing I wasn't sure that whether I can catch 12005 New Delhi Kalka Shatabdi because of late running of my 12549 Durg Jammu Tawi Express so decided to book ticket in Shatabdi Express, once my train crosses Kurukshetra Jn.

As soon as Kurukshetra Jn. passed my train covered 1hr delay i.e from 7hrs delay to 6hrs delay. Again a hope rose for catching 04569 Ambala - Kalka Express from Ambala. And I was happy from inside but god had same plan for me in different way. My train reached Ambala outers at 5:45pm and next 04569 was at 6:22pm from PF1 (it should be called as PF 1A just like Raipur Jn. platform). I started panicking as my train was at same place till 6:12pm just 10min left for 04569's departure. My train got signal and it crawled all the way till Ambala's PF 7 at 6:20pm I ran extremely fast from PF7 to PF1 just few meters away from the train I started losing my stamina my speed slowed down. I was able to see the Gaurd's coach. I started walking fast and was not seeing the time. I thought I cannot make it, so opened my phone's camera to shoot my 1st missing train and at the same time, in the announcement, it was getting announced that 04569 will be departing Ambala on its scheduled time. I just made it at 6:23pm yes at 6:23pm I caught the train 04569 and boarded it without ticket as I have already in touch with my brother that if I can make it into this train then pls take ticket for Kalka from Dhulkot as we are destined to meet at Dhulkot. After boarding the train, co-passenger sensed me that I m breathing heavily and showed a good gesture by offering me a bottle of water.
And the most irritating thing happened to me was, the train departed at 6:45pm 🥲🥹. My brother met me at Dhulkot and gave me the ticket with some light snacks and later reached Kalka with a delay of 17minutes.

Edit 1: (Writing this on 23-12-22 11:42am)

So I spend whole night at Kalka Station's waiting room (its very good actually) as I have to board 52457 Kalka - Shimla Passenger which departs Kalka at 03:30am from PF5, as soon as clock hit 00:00hrs I took the first ticket of the day for 52457. Then boarded the train, it wasn't much crowded. Then I captured a beautiful sunrise and after reaching at Shimla, I found that it was a very sunny day, explored nearby places, went to Mall Road all by walking as I have ample of time, then by 1:30pm I reached new bus stand (ISBT) and took a ticket for Delhi. The bus was non-AC but equipped with charging ports, it was Himachal Pradesh's govt. bus. It departed Shimla at 1:36pm and I reached Kashmere Gate ISBT Delhi at 11:00pm. I had a plan for going Nizamuddin Station by metro because after 8-9pm Taxi/Cab rates are very high but again due to traffic in Delhi outskirts my bus was delayed and at night its bit scary in going Kashmere Gate Metro Station from Kashmere Gate ISBT alone but then at metro station, I asked for the token of Jangpur (Purple Line) as it was near to Nizamuddin Station (and already the connecting metro for Red Line and Pink Line was departed) but I wasn't provided the token as the last metro was already departed. Then, I suddenly asked for New Delhi Station's token (Yellow Line) he provided me the token and I rushed to yellow line and caught the last metro which was going to HUDA City and deboarded at New Delhi Station. Then at New Delhi Station, I took a ticket for Nizamuddin Station and boarded 04440 New Delhi - Palwal EMU at 12:15am then stayed at Nizamuddin's Waiting Hall (In 2018 when I visited Nizamuddin Station, the same waiting hall was being constructed) its very good waiting hall actually.

So, I have booked tickets earlier in 12808 Samta Express which was in waiting (GNWL 139) and the charting time of the train was at 3:00am. I slept when I woke up, it was 3:45am and suddenly checked the status of my ticket, it was GNWL 2 🥹🥹 just GNWL 2 !!! I won't be more sad if it was GNWL 12.

Then as per plan I was going to take 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti from Nizamuddin to Nagpur and I took a General Superfast ticket from Nizamuddin to Raipur (₹360). But later when I checked current availability of 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express from Nizamuddin to Nagpur, I saw 64 tickets were available, I was aware that Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti's General Coaches go vacant so at one moment i thought i should not take it but I was bit exhausted so, at last moment I booked sleeper ticket from Nizamuddin to Nagpur (₹505), got Side Lower Berth but an old lady came and asked for my side lower and without a second thought I exchanged my side lower with her side upper berth, also the adjacent side lower berth was vacant so I shifted there. (We solo travelers always adjust our berths for someone's happiness/problem 😇) Actually this old lady is going to Tirupati Balaji for Darshan and coming all the way from Nainital, actually most of the passengers are going Tirupati Balaji's darshan.

Later I didn't cancel that online UTS ticket as I'll be taking the same 12808 Samta Express from Nagpur to Raipur after deboarding from 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti Express at Nagpur.

And after that I just slept peacefully and directly woke up at Gwalior Jn. and saw a military train 🇮🇳 adjacent to our train and then train was running 1hr late but it reached Jhansi Jn. with a delay of 20min.

[I'll update here again once I reach Nagpur or Raipur].

Reached Nagpur by 12708 Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti 7min before time (22:13hrs) and later boarded 12808 Samta Express from Nagpur in General Coach which too arrived 10min before time at Nagpur Jn. (00:25hrs). The scenes of General coach wasn't that horrific but yes ECoR's Maintenance sucks 🤮🤮 I got a seat comfortably till Raipur.

[Costings of this journey excluding food prices]
I have done all this journey in public transport 😉

1) 12549 Raipur to Jammu Tawi in 2AC: ₹2805
2) 04569 Ambala Cantt. to Kalka in GS: ₹50
3) 52457 Kalka to Shimla in GS: ₹50
4) Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Non AC Seater Bus (Ashok Leyland Made) Shimla (ISBT) to Delhi (ISBT) : ₹531
5) Kashmere Gate Metro Station to New Delhi Metro Station: ₹20
6) New Delhi Railway Station to Hazrat Nizamuddin Station in GS: : ₹30
7) 12708 (AP Sampark Kranti Express) + 12808 (Samta Express) Nizamuddin to Raipur in General Class Ticket: ₹360
8) 12708 Nizamuddin to Nagpur in Sleeper Class: ₹495
[₹4341]

This is my 4th Sampark Kranti Express class train ride after,
Chhattisgarh Sampark Kranti (Bilaspur - Nizamuddin),
Maharashtra Sampark Kranti (Bandra Terminus - Nizamuddin),
Karnataka Sampark Kranti (Nagpur - Nizamuddin) and
Andhra Pradesh Sampark Kranti (Nizamuddin - Nagpur) and this list will be continuing.