Journey on India's longest train route : 4273 km from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari, by:- Durga Charan Mishra

Vivek Express,  Longest train in India by both time and distance.

A journey is a pleasure and it is much more joyful to me if it is a train journey. It caters to all my excitement points : varied sizes of railway stations, exploring less known places, interesting food, the hustle bustle at the stations, young lads belting out songs to make some money, tea-chain-lock&key vendors making noise (although after a few stations you kind of start to enjoy it) and region specific intersting food and not to forget...the most interesting people. In India train rides are always a treat and a must for anyone who truly wants to experience this country.

I along with my wife  had the opportunity of our  lifetime to travel from Debrugarh to Katpadi Junction by Indian Railway train no 15906  Vivek Express departs from Dibrugarh every Saturday at 23:05 and arrives after 4 nights on Wednesday at 09.55 am at Kanyakumari..  The 82 hr 50 min journey covers 4,238km from Dibrugarh, northeastern state of Assam to  southernmost most town of Kanyakumari with 55 halts average speed of 51 km/hr . most of the time the train maintain a  speed of 100 to 110 km/hr  and carries, at times, more than 1,800 people, taking passengers through seven states, beautiful landscapes in destinations such as Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil  Nadu and Kerala.

Dibrugarh, a town on extreme corner of north east India , is the only non-capital city in the country to have important trains such as the Rajdhani Express and Vivek Express originating

the train the prestigious title of the longest train ride in India, by both time and distance. The train uses a diesel engine for one part of the journey and an electric engine for the other.

We packed our luggage  and went to Dibrugarh Railway Station, as our real journey was to start from there .We arrived at Debrugarh Railway Station platform  30 minutes before the departure of our train  The main reason for this , we  get an opportunity to observe  all activities before departure of a train from platform.

We  located our coach and boarded the Vivek Express for Kanyakumari. We booked our tickets well in advance allotted on coach no B-1, seat/berth no 41, 44 both are on lower with window side in a three tire AC compartment, .we  have always chained my luggage to the links provided under the seats, It is always better to be safe.

The train rolls exactly on time at 11.05 pm. The first part of the journey is meeting your co-passenger  s are the only activities. After some time By 11.30 pm everyone on the train had mellow downed for the night . We were given a blanket, pillow and two clean sheets and a towel for each.  Our night on the train was very relaxing. When the sun rises, the lovely hill station of Diphu, Assam slides by, shrouded in a light fog. We got off at the station and had some hot tea and filled our water bottles. The train started again. I find it difficult to describe the scene outside. It is so beautiful. It is green hills covered with tree

The train passes through many important stations. People of all casters and creeds were seen there. Secular India was visible there. When the train arrived at the platform.  there were thousands of passengers including women children youth and old  with lot of luggage were all eager to board the train.

People were running up and down to get a seat. Coolies were busy helping the passengers. The hawkers were crying at the top of their voices. Many places there was a great rush.

The journey was nice experience.  We passed through many states. I looked out during the day and enjoyed the scenery all along. We saw cattle grazing, people working in the fields, beautiful flower Gardens and orchards of fruit trees. Our train made very few halts.

Some of our favorite experiences in India have taken place on the train. We have made new friends, enjoyed wonderful conversations, and enjoyed mixing  up with the locals.

Our journey in the morning was very interesting . As the train goes through the Indian country side , you witness the lifestyle of rural India and small towns . we were passing through the lush green fields and trees seemed to welcome everywhere . The trees looked like running backwards . The earth seemed to be moving round

The scenery was very fine .The farmers were seen working in their fields. It was very interesting to observe the rural life of India. The children were making faces at us and they shouted with joy. The train was running very fast  comes across mountains, rivers, backwaters and the sea.

The train passed  many ‘level crossing’. People are waiting on both the sides of the crossing for the train to pass. There are buses full of people, cars, trucks, auto rickshaws, cycles, motor cycles, scooters and even bullock carts with people and goods in them. Some people do not switch off the engines of their vehicle even while waiting at the level crossing.

whole day we watched different states and cities of our country passing by. I felt very proud of my big country.

In the morning we were woken up by the sounds of  “Coffee, Tea” etc. All day long the train stewards kept bringing us hot and cold drinks, soup, cutlets, breakfast, meals and many other things.

The Vivek Express, like most trains in India is a treasure of characters. throughout the day like snack vendors, jhaal-muri ,Chai-wallahs, fruit sellers, beggars, singers  and pimps. 

You can buy Roti Chawal, briyani, Samosa, idli, vada, egg  boiled and omelette, local fruits, bananas, curd, , tomato soup, water or biscuit, chocolate, soft drinks and one hundred varieties of chart.

The most colorful of them all are the eunuchs. Known as hijras.  They demanding money from young.  They are the most stubborn and misbehaving people earning money on the trains,

If the train is a street market, train platforms are street markets on speed. Vendors have only minutes to sell as many as possible.

The train was moving very fast and shaking a lot. It was very difficult to walk during running time of the train. When I felt bored, I walked up and down the train. We also made friends with other people who were travelling with us. The time passed by very nicely.

A majority of passengers on the train are from of Army, ITBP, the Assam Rifles, The Madras Regiment, BSF and CRPF - who hail from Southern India  they prefer to travel by this train because they can travel without changing the trains from one corner to another corner of this country to their native place.

Some part of the north-east and west Bengal, there is no restrictions,  everyone in it like a general compartment. Without reservation passengers entering into the reservation compartments.

This train is one of the rush train in north east. Mainly the young  people from  North East,  West Bengal  who work as a labour in south,   travels in this train to Kerala and Tamil Nadu.  The train sleeper seat for one single passenger. but in this train maximum 4 people travel in one seat means one confirm seat for 1 passenger and 3 to 4 waiting list passenger  for a whole seat. It will find not a single space place is left to walk in this train.

When you get on the train, you may see many  people (both men and women) are sleeping on their seats. Some people try to get on the window side seats since they can lean on the wall of the seats. If you look around the train, you can see some people are leaning on the person next sitting to them. The window side  are very popular.

The general compartment was a different world. There were more people above the capacity. The general compartment, where more than 200 people are crammed into a space fit for just 90. But it is wonder that people are  laughing, sharing, chewing gutkas or smoking bidis like a big party is going on inside the compartment . India  wasn’t such a bad place

The problem faced by almost all of us while traveling in the Indian Railways is the poor quality of food served.  The condition of kitchen is extremely unhygienic and the cooks are not of the expected standard. 

There is no sense of responsibility as they focus on earning more profits than serving their duties. The catering staff is selling Normal Tea in disposable cups at 10/- per cup and the price as per list is Rs 7/- and Rs100 for dinner as the standard rate for dinner is Rs.50  showing on  rate slip, higher prices for mineral water as 20.00 instead of actually printed price 15.00 It is a very common incidence which is happening in almost all trains. Thousands of complain being launched by the passengers each day but no results. Most of the catering services are politically supported in our country, We feel that, the railway not taking any steps regarding this matter seriously.

We realized It is not easy to understand the complex system of life style because the people are different it has different communities possessing different faith, social and cultural background having different languages. There are few countries on earth with the enormous variety that India  has to offer.

The train  through Assam on the Second  day, then  West Bengal. The third day morning finds you in Durgapur of West Bengal, crossing into Odisha before evening,  and passing through Visakhapatnam  Junction at midnight in Andhra Pradesh. Vijayawada Jn. on the fourth day morning.

Finally after a long unique and challenging journey,  we got down at our detonation at Katpadi Junction at  schedule time on our 4^th day of journey at 4.05 pm after covering a distance of 3368 km.

Really the journey by Vivek Express  was a very interesting one. from Dibrugarh to Katpadi Junction was still more enjoyable . We can never forget our journey.