Aug 06, 2012 09:53 PM
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It was my third time in Shivalik Deluxe, twice within the past 1 year. Shimla seems to grow on me, so does the Shivalik Deluxe.
We booked our tickets pretty early for the journey since this train is equivalent to Rajdhani of the broad gauge and booking tickets early is a good option. After managing the tickets we reached Kalka sharp at 4.30am by Kalka Mail from Delhi. Shivalik Dluxe was scheduled to depart at 5.30 am from Kalka to Shimla on its 95kms journey upwards to the summer capital of British India.
We were 18 people in one coach and there were 7coaches on the particular day, probably because there was a little rush, it being a friday. Generally the train runs with six coaches. As we started we were given a cup of tea and biscuits. This time around tea was the only option, in my previous journeys coffee was also an option. Another issue that we faced was that out of the four of us that travelled we were only given two water bottles, in fact all the people travelling with us in the coach also had this same issue. When we asked for the extra water bottles, the excuse given was that there are no more bottles. This apart the breakfast given was the same as in the Rajdhani & Shatabdi trains and the cutlet was a lot better than in the other trains.There was an option of bread, butter and omelette apart from bread, butter and cutlet.With the breakfast the option was once again of tea only.
Meanwhile we were travelling through the beautiful Shivalik ranges and the toy train as it is popularly called was at its best while negotiating the curves and valleys. The journey itself was so good and comfortable that it sometimes surprises me that there are trains like Shivalik Deluxe that are being maintained so well, the seats, the curtains and the overall cleanliness is absolutely amazing.
There is only one scheduled stop at Barog which is just before Solan and also can be considered the mid way to Shimla. After about a 10 min stoppage at Barog we were onward on our journey to Shimla.
We reached around 10.15 am, just under 5 hrs and once again one of my best train journeys in India came to an end. I just hope that I am able to to tavel in this train again and again.
