Hi PUGs and POTters, Continuing from my previous post, here's my experience about transporting my bike.
On the day of my journey, my dad and myself went to the station at around 1000, train was scheduled at 1340, we went to the station, me riding the bike, dad following in the car. Emptied most of the petrol into a PET bottle, which wasn't much anyway. Packed the bike ourselves. Dad had been to the local dealer a few days ago and picked up the packing that Bajaj uses to ship bikes. I was expecting there to be a styrofoam cast for the tank, but cost cutting it seems has reduced it to a LDPE foam backed bubble wrap shield, which extends all the way from the tank to the rear fender, which seems in-sufficient for transporting the bike by train. We also had some LDPE foam with us, which we taped to most of the exposed areas like the front mudguard, the front forks, exhaust pipe etc. The front headlamp fairing also gets a sock of its own, which we got from the dealer. Satisfied that we couldn't pack it anymore, we met the parcel officer, who seemed reluctant to even ship the bike by my train. He repeatedly asked us to ship it as a 'Parcel' rather than 'accompanied luggage' stating that there was no guarantee that he would be able to load the bike into the train. The train originates from Nanded, which is a good 200 odd kilometers from Aurangabad, and he said the parcel van comes sealed. Pretty disappointed, we had to shun our ego and beg him to atleast try to put it in the train. After quite some time he relented to atleast try. Filled the form, which requires details like Reg. no., Source, Destination (which for me was Nizamuddin, nearest station to Noida), value, etc. From previous logs, I valued the bike at Rs. 10,000/- which doesn't incur any extra insurance charges. The total fee for carriage came out to Rs. 1293/-. We then met the railway packers, who are involved with packing and loading the bike onto the train. They asked for a charge of 150/- in all to pack using jute sacks, etc. and load it, which we couldn't negotiate. For the price, we took a verbal assurance that they would load the bike onto the train. The porter then asked for some 'kharcha pani' to give to the parcel office. Quite expecting it, we agreed to keep the guy 'happy' and coughed up another 50 bucks. We then left for home for me to finish up packing my stuff. We arrived at the station in time for the train and noticed the bike hadn't been moved onto the platform. On enquiring, they told us that it would be moved before the train arrives. Once the train arrived I got busy with loading my bags into my bogie, while dad went to have a look at the bike. Once my bags were loaded, I ran to the parcel van, which wasn't too far away to see the bike. Just as I reached there, they had begun to close the door of the van. I just got a glance of what seemed to be my bike and to my absolute HORROR, I realised that they had loaded the bike inclined onto some boxes, with the rear wheel resting on the van floor and front wheel hanging in mid air. My dad's face told the entire story of how he felt and his helplessness. I somehow was composed, expecting the worst for her and feeling quite calm in my despair and helplessness. The journey was quite comfortable, however I imagined the state of the bike every time the train shook violently. I had asked a friend to come to Nizamuddin station and check at the parcel office if they would unload the bike. The parcel office said that they donot open the van at NZM and it would be unloaded at Delhi (NDLS). I anyway got off the train at NZM to see if they would do it, but no body was even near the parcel van. We met the parcel officer, who told us that we would have to go to NDLS, confirm that the bike had been unloaded, get the luggage receipt endorsed, return to NZM, get a gate pass made and get the bike out from NDLS. The entire procedure seemed quite daunting, so hoping for someone to relent, we left my luggage at my friend's place and went to NDLS. On reaching the parcel office, a porter offere to help if the officer would accept 'something'. However the parcel officer seemed unprepared to help out and said the procedure stated above was the only way. The porter asked us to get the endorsement on the receipt done from the platform on which the bike was unloaded. We reached the platform to confirm the bike was there. From a distance, I could spot the rear tyre of my bike, unique since it's Dunlop, but could not notice the bikes profile, since it was standing among a few other bikes. On reaching there, saw that none of the packaging showed signs of any damage, wear or abrasion. Only the rear portion of the packing seemed to have pealed off. On further inspection, I noticed that the rear fender just above the rear lamp had been scraped, probably it was rubbing against the door of the van. I was pretty pleased not to see any evident damage. We quickly got the receipt endorsed, headed to NZM, got the gate pass made and returned to NDLS. The entire procedure of shunting between trains took us a couple of hours. Once we reached NDLS, I was racing against the clock. It was past 1600 and the parcel office closes at 1700. On reaching the parcel office, we met another porter who offered to bring the bike from platform 5 to the parcel office, which is on platform 1. The parcel officer had now changed at the gate and he refused to let the bike pass without some other endorsement made that he mumbled about. In the meanwhile the other officer, I had met earlier asked him to let me pass and there seemed to be a slight argument between the two. He then relented and to my utmost satisfaction, I had the bike to myself again. Coughed up another 80 bucks to the porter, who asked for 150 for doing nothing much and began unwrapping the bike. It really felt like I was unwrapping a much desired present on my birthday. As I let loose each bit of packing, my excitement grew, not to find any damage. In the end it was only the 'bite in the bum' and nothing else that was wrong. I kicked a few times and the symphony began. I still had sufficient fuel left in the tank to get me upto Connaught Place, which is about a kilometer away, where I tanked up and headed home. All in all, transportation by train is probably the quickest way to transport the bike. If you can be satisfied that it is kept standing straight in the train, it can be quite less nerve wracking as well. I hope this info can help anyone considering to transport their bike by train. Appologies for the 'essay' Cheers, Adrian
