AsSalamualaikum (Greetings)
My today's journey is from Lahore to Rawalpindi
And that too on Pakistan Railways' most luxurious class, AC Sleeper
AC Sleeper is considered most expensive class of Pakistan Railways
It has cabins of 2 and 4 persons
which has washroom attached with cabin
Also the sitting space is quite spacious
Anyway,
I will tell you more about this luxurious class during travelogue
I had to travel from Lahore to Islamabad for some work
And I chose my most favorite medium of travelling, i.e. train
Although the fare of AC Sleeper for long journey is quite high
But for short journey like Lahore to Rawalpindi, the fares of AC Sleeper are very affordable
For travelling between Lahore to Rawalpindi on 7UP Tezgam, the fare of Economy class is 500 Rs. (Seat) and 550 Rs. (Berth)
AC Business fare is 950 Rs.
And AC Sleeper fare is 1200 Rs.
Thats means that a middle class person like me
can surely enjoy the luxury of AC Sleeper in this small journey
I reached Lahore railway station on afternoon of 25th August 2020
which is a busy railway station of Pakistan
And it remains alive on any time of the day
But today was less crowded
because all trains were late due to Karachi rains
I had to travel on 7UP Tezgam
Which runs between Karachi and Rawalpindi
but it hadn't arrived Lahore yet.
While I was waiting for 7UP
Till then I saw some shunting locomotives wandering around
After too much wait, 7UP Tezgam arrived with ZCU-30-6310
at 3:35 PM
And with yard's speed limit
i.e. 15 kmph, got placed on platform #2
At Lahore Junction, 7UP Tezgam stops for about half an hour
during which Lahore quota coaches get detached from rake
And then for Lahore to Rawalpindi journey, only 9 to 10 coaches rake remains
After seeing detachment of Lahore quota coaches, I reached infront of today's Locomotive
which had to lead us from Lahore to Rawalpindi
The loco which leads 7UP from Karachi to Lahore is detached at Lahore Jn.
And new locomotive is assigned for Lahore to Rawalpindi
Today ZCU-20-6412 was on lead of 7UP from Lahore to Rawalpindi
which is 2000 horsepower diesel locomotive by CSR Ziyang, China
Its maximum speed is 120 kmph
And its fuel tank capacity is 5500 litres
After seeing locomotive, finally I reached near my coach to board
I booked my berth in AC Sleeper's 2 person cabin
Check out the interior of this beautiful class of Pakistan Railways
In this lovely class, only LCD TV was missing which was not present because of some reason
Anyway, journey started around 4:19 PM
And our train slowly left Lahore Junction's platform #2
Here my railfan friend Bilal was also present to wave me Goodbye.
After leaving platform, also saw Lahore's green yard
where many spare freight vans were also placed
When train caught momentum after Do Morya Bridge
I got to hear lovely track sounds
Also enjoy this lovely track sound
Crossed Badami Bagh in slow speed because of P.L.C
Here due to malfunction of CBI signals, train gets proceed via manual signal (i.e. PLC)
which is the reason of slow speed
After Badami bagh, our train crossed over River Ravi
According to Sindh Tas Agreement between India and Pakistan, the water of Ravi belongs to India
but when there is excess water during rains, it also looks full
After Ravi, also crossed Shahdara Junction in good speed
Around Sadhoke, the view outside was marvelous
Everywhere were green fields
And this greenery looked great to eyes
At Sadhoke, 14DN Awam Express was stationed
Where our 7UP Tezgam crossed it
Our train reached Gujranwala at 5:20 PM
Gujranwala's yard was also quite green
Gujranwala's building is also quite beautiful
which was on other side of our platform
40DN Jaffar Express also crossed our train at Gujranwala
but due to few seconds late, was not able to capture it.
Our train left Gujranwala at 5:34 PM
Here saw a dramatic scene too..
when one passenger left his luggage in train
who himself had left the train
And his friend in train handed it to random tik tok guy as safe keeping
Give it to railway police station, hand it to any porter and ask him to deliver to police station
A little before Wazirabad, train in dead slow speed (i.e. 10 kmph) crossed a caution
Caution is used in Railway term when
work is in progress on the tracks
Here hard working gangmen were busy changing track sleepers in too much heat
These gangmen have very less salary
but work is really hard
In real, our trains are rolling because of these hard working labors
who are giving their sweat for this institution
Evening, 6:10 PM, our train had entered Wazirabad Junction
Here yard was lush green due to recent rains
Soon train stopped after reaching platform
According to my calculation, the cross with 48DN Rehman Baba Express had to happen here
but instantly our train got green signal
And our train started moving
which means now we had to meet 48DN on next station, Haripur Band
Soon our train crossed 48DN Rehman Baba Express
which was stationed on Haripur Band's loop line
Right after Haripur Band, it comes River Chenab
And over it, beautiful Alexandara Bridge
Here train crossed at excellent speed
Evening 6:26 PM, our train reached Gujrat Railway station
where our train stopped on loop line
While our train was stationed at Gujrat,
6DN Greenline crossed via main line at fast speed
After Greenline passed, we got proceed signal and we continued journey
Last station before it got dark, our train reached at 6:48 PM
It was Lala Musa
Its station was also deserted
After 5 minutes stop, our train left Lala Musa Junction
And then I got retired to my cabin
After my fellow passenger left at Gujrat, no one came in my cabin from here
Now I was travelling in this luxury cabin alone
As soon as it got dark, I felt hungry
So I decorated home brought food on my wide berth
Today's menu was Paratha, Omelet and Shami Kabab
and I did complete justice with it.
Since now I was travelling in this cabin solo after that person got off at Gujrat
so I was also enjoying the personal space fully
And opened my laptop to reply to your comments on my videos
During this, our train got stopped at Dina during dark
And soon two trains crossed us..
First 12DN Hazara Express passed
which I couldn't capture
But after that, captured 108DN Islamabad Express
which passed after disturbing the peace of darkness
Afetr this capture, I slept a little
Due to darkness, I couldn't capture many other places
which I will cover in next journey
Finally our train reached Rawalpindi railway station at around 9:45 PM
which was late by 2 hours and 45 minutes from its scheduled time
After train stopped, everyone was in hurry to leave for their destinations.. may be except me
For quite some time, I sat and watched the hustle bustle of railway station
and then left
where I saw shining building of my favorite Rawalpindi Railway station
and also saw the steam locomotive
which is kept outside Rawalpindi railway station building as a memorial.
So this is how my beautiful journey came to an end
Where I enjoyed journey in most luxurious class, AC Sleeper of Pakistan Railways in reasonable charges
If you do get such chance, do avail it.
Hope you will like today's journey
InshaALLAH (With ALLAH's will), I will come again with such vlog. Allah Hafiz (Goodbye)
