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Date of the journey:- November 2019
Distance travelled:- 120 miles
As we had been in Mumbai for a few days. We took the opportunity to go to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station the day before to purchase our tickets. These were purchased from the foreign tourist counter, which is somewhat difficult to find, being right at the back of the station in what appeared to be a second booking hall. Just ask any of the railway staff or police within the station and they will show you where it is.
We booked sleeper class tickets on the 1535 hrs Konark Express, train number 11019, to Pune Junction. A journey of 3 hours and 45 minutes at a cost of 200 Rupees per person.
Having travelled on a few trains in India, we booked the sleeper class, which isn’t the basic class but a couple above it. Basically, it is an open sleeping carriage with 6 main and 2 side berths in each section. During the day the middle berths fold down to provide seating for those in the section. No air conditioning but ceiling fans and openable windows provide sufficient ventilation to stay cool. For more information on Indian train travel see our India travel tips & advice page.
Travelling in the same class on different trains can give completely different experiences. On this occasion the experience of overcrowding. At one point there were 18 of us in a ticketed area for 8. Having said that, the local Indian passengers were very respectful and did not overcrowd our berth seat. Affording us a far more comfortable journey than most other passengers.
As always with Indian journeys. The train left and arrived on time. There were food and drinks for sale throughout the journey, courtesy of the vendors passing through the crowded train.
It was dark when we arrived in Pune. We had already booked our accommodation at Hotel Centro, through Booking.com. Getting there was a little bit of a drama. The tuk tuk drivers outside of the station all refused to take us to the hotel on the meter. Instead of trying to charge us heavily inflated tourist prices. Eventually, we found a genuine driver, who charged a fair and reasonable tourist price.
The journey to the hotel from the station took approximately 15 minutes.