Travels in the Northeast

Summary of a quick trip to the Northeast (Assam with a bit of Arunachal Pradesh).

Oct 5. By 20977 Vande Bharat from Jaipur Jn to Delhi Cantt (terminus), 0750-1135.

Followed the expert advice to take an auto to Dhaulakuan metro station and then the Airport Express metro to DEL Terminal 3.

Then by Vistara flight from DEL to GAU (UK 721, 1500-1725).

Oct 6. In Guwahati

Oct 7. Guwahati to Badarpur Vistadome Express

0645-1435 by Vistadome coach. Main stop at New Haflong

Return 1520-2325 by CC coach. Most of the trip is in darkness. Stopped at New Haflong again. Dinner was picked up at Manderdisa Jn, which is a bypass for Lumding and its reversal.

Oct 8. 12088 Guwahati-Naharlagun Shatabdi Express, 1340-1945. This also has a Vistadome coach if you want to spend more. Anyway there is the regular Shatabdi catering without extra charges.

Crossed the Saraighat bridge while going to Rangiya. A new station seemed to be under construction at Agthori.

Had booked a dorm room at Naharlagun station. Yes, you are supposed to apply online for an “inner line permit” even if you are just stepping into Arunachal state. Nothing happened. The Arunachal tourism offices in Guwahati are not open at normal times.

The cops at the NHLN platform do make an attempt to screen every person getting off a train there. I was able to manage without a permit by pointing out that I was only spending a night at the station. (Of course, one could walk out of the station some time later without anything happening). I confined myself to taking a few pictures of the station exterior.

Oct 9. 15908 Naharlagun-Tinsukia Express, 0600-1100. An ordinary express with one CC coach. Crossed the 4-km long Bogibeel bridge.

Oct 9. Was to catch the 15603 Guwahati-Ledo Intercity Express (1127-1315). The train from NHLN was on time, although the connection was a bit late. Tinsukia (TSK,the original one) is quite shabby and neglected compared to New Tinsukia (NTSK). Even the DRM’s office has shifted to NTSK.

Another short stop before catching the 15604 Ledo-Guwahati Intercity (1535-0450), which was naturally the same rake. This was also a rather miserable place like TSK, but at least you can take some pictures to show that you have been to the easternmost passenger station of the Indian Railways. Also a dubious place for chow mein nearby. This overnight train had the normal composition of AC2, AC3, SL and unreserved. In the AC3 coach we were accompanied by a number of paramilitary soldiers who got off at Simaluguri. Reached Guwahati station on time, coinciding with sunrise around 0500.

This train crosses a few km of Nagaland including Dimapur in the middle of the night.

Oct 10 Quick turnaround before returning to Delhi by Vistara flight UK 742 (1550-1840). Followed the same path to Dhaulakuan by metro and auto to Delhi Cantt. Had been planning to return to Jaipur by the Yoga Express, but this became risky when the flight timings were changed to reach DEL later.

Oct 11. Finally took the 19702 Delhi Cantt (0007-0815) which goes by a roundabout route via Loharu and Sikar, but did reach Jaipur at a civilized time like 0815 on Oct 11. Better than getting off at Jaipur at say 0300/0400. Back home.

(To confuse you further, the departure of this train was abruptly changed from 2330 from DLI to 0007 from DEC, both on the 10th. I did not think anyone would be able to clarify this satisfactorily , so I changed the reservation to 0007 on 11th.)

One thing to check while traveling by Vistadome: Make sure that it is at the rear of the rake during daylight hours. Keep track of reversals at unexpected places such as Rangiya (GHY-NHLN) and Harmuti (NHLN-TSK). Often it is not at the rear. So you might as well travel by the regular CC in this case.

Be aware that sunset and sunrise in the Northeast are somewhat earlier than in most of India. And that traffic in the evenings in Guwahati can be terrible.

All the routes mentioned here are broad gauge. Most were converted from MG to BG in the 1990s.

Sketch map of routes covered:

Not many worthwhile pictures. Anyway you can have a look:

New Haflong and the Vistadome coach:

The platform at Badarpur (a typical sight in many stations).

Naharlagun interior:

Outside views of the station:

Note the Hindi sign for Itanagar. There is also an English sign for this. Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh, is about 15 km from the station.

Ledo: furthest East:

Outside the station:

The easternmost boards: