City Secret – Hindon Railway Bridge, Ghaziabad

The Delhi walla's pretension in writing makes me want to lodge a bullet in his balls - Blogger Nimpipi, the woodchuck chucks
GO STRAIGHT TO MORE STORIES
Contact mayankaustensoofi@gmail.com for ad enquiries.



A must-see for trainspotters.

[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Around five miles outside Delhi’s Eastern limits, this redbrick railway bridge falls in Ghaziabad, a district in Uttar Pradesh. Thanks to its series of six 70-feet-wide arches, it looks like a Roman aqueduct. Reach around 6 am. Spanning across the Hindon river, a tributary of the Yamuna, the bridge looks best at dawn. If it’s winter, the mist would be drifting over the river.

At this hour, the road traffic is slow, the train traffic heavy. Sit down on the stairs leading up to the bridge. First, you hear the faint whistle of the rail engine. As the train nears, the weak echo builds up to a boom. Then the climax – the train is running over the bridge. A minute later, the bridge back to its solitariness, the river limpid. What was the fuss about?

While there are boards and slabs detailing the bridge’s length (488 meter) and the highest flood level (recorded in 1978), it is unclear when it was constructed. “Most arched railway bridges were built during the Raj,” says KP Singh, an engineer who crosses the structure daily. Another overpass, more modern, runs parallel to it.

Falling on the busy Delhi-Ghaziabad route, many super-fast expresses pass one after another on both bridges. This gives the trainspotter a fleeting feel of connection to faraway places the trains come from: Puri, Dibrugarh, Amritsar, Patna, Howrah, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and Goa.

Walk under the bridge. Be careful, for here the road is a steep turn and the approaching car might not see you. The visual perspective of the arches enlarges from this place. Their reflection on the water might tempt you to write poetry. There’s also a view of the Hindon dam.

Resist from too much romanticism. The river is black with filth, the parapet is scrawled with graffiti, the area is not completely crime-proof, and you could even come across beggars. “We live in such a crowded city,” says Payal Singh, who had driven over from Vasundhara, a nearby suburb. “But here it is so peaceful. You don’t feel you are in a city.” All around, there is open landscape not yet encroached by apartment complexes and shopping malls. But the quiet is as lasting as the morning dew. Another hour, and the road under the bridge become crowded with muggles. The magic is lost until the next morning.

Where Near Mohan Nagar Crossing in Ghaziabad. It’s close to Sector 4, Vasundhra. Make your way through Anand Vihar. Poke the locals for directions.

Like a dream



Vital stats



So different, so peaceful



The modern sibling



Nice curves



Down under



Up the stairs



The larger perspective



Spot the dam