A Rare Occurrence on Indian Railways!

Now this is a sight you don’t see often on Indian Railways. In fact, the picture you see here is a very rare occurrence on Indian Railways for many reasons. The 12202 Trivandrum Kochuveli – Mumbai Kurla LTT Garib Rath hauled by West Central Railway (WCR) Itarsi (ET) shed’s WAG9HC #32223 thunders past Kazhakoottam. It is this mega offlink that makes this a rare occurrence. The WAG9 is a freight locomotive that should have no business hauling the Garib Rath. Itarsi lies nowhere on the running path of this train. In fact, it does not go anywhere near WCR or Madhya Pradesh at all. And Itarsi in the middle of the country is a long way away away from Trivandrum. In all, an extremely rare and momentous occasion!

And finally and most importantly, this offlink created a train with a completely colour-matched livery on Indian Railways, all green with a yellow band around it! It isn’t often that you see that! There has been another such “green” incident when a Garib Rath was hauled by a green locomotive. I was fortunate enough to capture that one as well!