It was this day, 1st October, 50 years ago that the then prestigious train Brindavan Express made her maiden run from Chennai to Bangalore. She covered the distance in just a little over 5 hours, which is how much time the present day Shatabdi Express takes. Anyone living in Bangalore or Chennai at that time knew about the Brindavan and it immediately became the preferred means of travel between the two cities. When it started, it ran on twin Diesel WDM2 engines. It was a thrill to see two engines pull a train. The Brindavan even stood apart when it came to looks. While all trains spotted the dull dry brick livery, the Brindavan spotted bright green and yellow. She sure was a head turner, in terms of looks as well as speed. At that time, she was the fastest in south India, with stops only at Jolarpetai, Katpadi and Bangalore Cant. She would reach Bangalore around 1pm and depart back to Chennai an hour later, reaching back the same night.
The Brindavan became famous for the speed, as well as the facilities she offered for that time. The AC Chair Cars were a luxury and became hugely popular on the Brindavan. All would agree that the best bit about the Brindavan was the food and the pantry car. I have traveled numerous times on the Brindavan, and each time I make it a point to walk up to the pantry. It was a sight indeed to watch the staff prepare hot dosas and fry crispy vadas, all when she is zooming past at 110 kmph. One could stand right there at the panty and eat or simply be seated and the food would keep coming. It seemed that everyone loved eating. She departed from Chennai at 7:30, in time for breakfast, so no wonder the pantry was always in full flow. It was a joy to simply walk through the vestibules and feel the brute force and see the tracks below while crossing over.
In the late 70's the railways experimented with double decker coaches for the Brindavan, to improve capacity. Though it was fascinating to see, it never really took off and failed to be a success because of the lack of luggage space and the reduced head space, making it difficult for even slightly taller people. The lower deck complained of dust as well. This was soon discontinued and she was restored to her actual glory. By then, the speed of the Brindavan was also reduced slightly to make her safer. To make it worse, more stops were added, giving in to public demand as well as to win votes. That was probably the beginning of her fall. In the years to follow, more and more stops would be added, thus increasing the travel time to a good six hours. Today the travel time is 6 hours and 10 minutes.
With the dawn of the 90's, electrification was completed up to Bangalore, and Brindavan now ran on an electric locomotive. The first run was in 1992. In spite of a better traction and better locomotive, the speed never increased, thanks to the increasing number of stops for the train. As of today, the train has 12 stops including the origin and destination. The train was however, still the first choice for most travelers and was still considered a premium train. Lalbagh Express came on the scene and briefly stole the limelight but she would meet the same fate as well. Today Lalbagh has 13 stops. The Brindavan continued to find favor with travelers and it had a great sentimental value. She somehow managed to crawl on for all those years, until suddenly things changed a year and a half ago.
In the recent past the railways have made certain stupid decisions and have added some worthless pieces of junk like the Duronto, Gareeb Rath and the Double Decker. Unfortunately, one Double Decker was assigned to the Chennai - Bangalore route. This initially brought cheer to all, but what the railways did with it is unthinkable. First off, the double decker is designed horribly. Head space can be excused, but even otherwise, it is terribly cramped. You cannot even dream of stretching your legs, forget comfort. Due to the height restriction, you cannot even walk around during the journey and you are a prisoner on your own seat.
Due to these problems, the DD, which departed 20 minutes after the Brindavan, rain empty on most days and was obviously making huge loss. To solve this, the railways switched time slots. The DD was given the 7:30 time slot and Brindavan was pushed to 7:50. This did not work. People still preferred the Brindavan any day. Next the railways cut down on the reserved coaches for the Brindavan and even brought down the AC chair car coaches from 3 to just 1. Now she was running with a majority of unreserved coaches and just 1 AC coach. Still, passengers preferred the Brindavan, which had a huge WL almost every single day, while the DD continued to run with a majority of empty seats. The final nail on the coffin was a couple of months back when the railways withdrew the very last AC coach on the Brindavan, arm twisting the AC passengers to pick the cramped DD.
Today, the Brindavan still runs packed. There is still a huge WL on the handful of reserved coaches left. Majority of the coaches are unreserved and there is no AC coach. It looks like, and is made to run like a poor passenger train. This is the plight of what was once the fastest and most prestigious train in South India. Last week, while arriving from Kerala, my Trivandum mail pulled onto platform 4 at Central. On platform 5 was the DD, all swanky looking, but deserted and ready to depart. On my left, on platform 3 was Brindavan. Worn down, dirty, and cheap vinyl advertisements plastered tastelessly all over her. There was still an hour left for her departure, but that platform was bustling with activity. Somehow, that same old sense of excitement was in the air. After all, you are going to be on the Brindavan, the train that just refuses to die, even after being stabbed multiple times.
