A Heritage to preserve: Mhow-Patalpani-Kalakund railroad 🛤
This article is about a scenic railway route in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh state. The interesting part about this rail route is that it was built during the British Rule in India, almost 150 years ago and has been in operation all these years. Let’s dive in !
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As this route is quite stunning and one of the last few remaining meter guage routes in India, the govt. took a positive decision of preserving a section as a heritage route. Thus, the Heritage Train was born. The rail track from Indore-Khandwa is being converted to broad gauge as part of the Ratlam-Akola gauge conversion project. There would be a new alignment of the tracks between Mhow and Choral stations, so it would bypass Patalpani and Kalakund stations, ensuring the preservation of this beautiful meter-gauge route.
The journey of the train starts off from Mhow station (code: DADN) and officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar in the morning. The train passes through the meadows and reaches Patalpani station. The important thing to note is that Patalpani village, has two stations, one main and one auxilliary. The Patalpani and the Patalpani waterfall stations are two different stations. Both the stations are roughly 1 KM apart. One may watch the following reel that I made while I was on a trip via a passenger train on the same route:
The train takes a major stop at Patalpani Waterfall station, where Freedom Fighter Tantiya Bhil was martyred. It also houses a temple to pay tributes to the warrior. The train stops for a whole hour at the station.
The waterfall is absolutely gorgeous. However, it has a safety barricading as incidents of people falling down from the cliff, and getting washed down by flash floods have been observed in the past. According to local folklore, Patalpani literally means that water in the gorge goes to the depths of the Paatal Lok.
The train takes another stop at a bridge over the Choral river. The river is notorious for being a silent killer. Time and again incidents have been reported, in which there was knee-deep brackish water in the rever and after a few minutes the water rose to lethal levels, due to flash floods. Some local tales, refer to it as a Chor (thief) river due to it’s stealthy nature, hence the name Choral.
The final stop on this journey is Kalakund railway station. A station, which seems frozen in time by the means of its architecture and surroundings. It is also famous for kalakand, a sweet delicacy. It reminds us of a station from the freezing hills of Shimla, the windy hills of Ooty or the gorgeous Darjeeling Mountain rail. See for yourself !
The train takes a major stop here, and then heads back to the origin, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Mhow) non-stop.
Best Time To Visit
As of April 2023, the train isn’t operating, the last train ran on 30th January 2023, along with the last passenger train on the same route. The Mhow station is undergoing remodelling, as a result of which the train is sitting idle in the yard. There is a fresh proposal of operating it between Patalpani and Kalakund only in the future, as they have let go of the meter gauge tracks from Mhow. Be that as it may, I am hopeful that by the time the monsoon arrives, The Heritage Train should be back on track by July 2023 with it’s new home being the Patalpani station.
How To Reach
You’d normally have to reach Dr. Ambedkar Nagar railway station via road, but now I think it would be Patalpani village station in the future. I would update the information, whenever the train services resume.
Bookings happen via IRCTC. You have to book two tickets per person, one for the forward journey and one for the return journey. The originating station is DADN, and terminating as KKD. The same would have to be reversed for the return journey. There are AC as well as Non-AC chair cars, so you may choose either of them, as per your convenience.
Conclusion
Visiting the valley and absorbing the surroundings on a train is a surreal experience. Gazing at the ravines along the river through the window, shouting at the top of the lungs, while the train’s in the tunnel, is an experience you wouldn’t wanna miss. So enjoy it while it lasts :)
Happy Journey !
