We are lucky to first experience Indian Railways’ stations and trains with the help of our guide Vivek.
We, a tour group of us, follow him through the Varanasi station, like daycare children on a towline … into the cross-currents of the scurrying throngs, watching, as advised, for signs that match platform to train to numbered train coach, shrieking questions on the fly, now stepping over and around begging children, the poor and frail, weary families trying to nap on station floors and platforms, past shouting chai vendors and snack hawkers, the lame and infirm hoping to cash in on the traveller’s desperate attempt to vanquish his fear of death-by-India-Rail with charity, into a new river of passengers and the gatherings who have come to bid them goodbye, fussing aunties, a father with wallet in hand. We yell more questions. Who are the men in red? How can we tell where our train coach will be on the line? Will there be eatable food? Will we actually be prepared to do this on our own?
Our first overnight ride, sitting astraddle a tumble of bags and packs, is a share of three-tier single bunk beds, each not quite six feet long (passersby keep getting hooked on my toes all night) along with a sheet and a dusty blanket. We remind one another that this “reserved sleeper” is pure comfort compared to the human cattle cars down the way.
Another train ride, this time in the very early morning from Jhansi to Agra. We climb into a sleeper car that has come from Mumbai and the far south. Many people are still curled asleep, others are half-awake sitting in scatterings of the nights blankets, bags, food and clothes. We have been cautioned to be patient, let people wake, organize themselves. Good advice. We sit across from two woman and a restless child, and two men who turn out to be part of the new world of global citizens, one an engineer, the other a medical researcher who seemed to have spent most of his life studying/researching outside India and who says he understands German better than he does the Indian women next to us.
A third train ride, now from Agra to Delhi late afternoon and evening, spacious seating, even clean feeling. We are getting accustomed to spotting the station signboards, navigating the track overpasses, watching for red-shirted rail staff if we need directions, remembering Vivek’s rail cautions. Arrival platforms change right to the last minute. Keep your eye on the men in red shirts and keep asking. Make sure your ticket matches the car number. Always, always remember that train stops can be surprisingly short, the press to get into cars quick and intense, so make sure you’re ready, make sure to push your way on, but without being ‘pushy’ – or get left behind. Once settled on board today, we wave off India Rail’s ‘very spicy’ (Vivek cautions) “Meals on Wheels” dinner and pull out our pizza and apples.
Footnote: Indian Railway carries some 30 million passengers each day, using about 7,500 trains and employing some 1.4 million people. Each year there are dozens of derailments, and reportedly some 15,000 deaths and many more injuries.
Footnote on train toilets and deaths: Research shows that human excrement and urine, discharged directly from passenger car toilets onto India’s tracks, are corroding the tracks and hindering the safe maintenance of rail cars. Dr Anil Kakodkar, head of a committee looking into Indian train safety, says that the toilet discharge “is one of the life limiting factors .... Because of the pH content of the toilet discharge, there is widespread corrosion of the rails. These toilets need to be discontinued. We also found that maintenance workers often refuse to service the undercarriage of the trains because discharge from toilets makes the undercarriage extremely dirty.”
We, a tour group of us, follow him through the Varanasi station, like daycare children on a towline … into the cross-currents of the scurrying throngs, watching, as advised, for signs that match platform to train to numbered train coach, shrieking questions on the fly, now stepping over and around begging children, the poor and frail, weary families trying to nap on station floors and platforms, past shouting chai vendors and snack hawkers, the lame and infirm hoping to cash in on the traveller’s desperate attempt to vanquish his fear of death-by-India-Rail with charity, into a new river of passengers and the gatherings who have come to bid them goodbye, fussing aunties, a father with wallet in hand. We yell more questions. Who are the men in red? How can we tell where our train coach will be on the line? Will there be eatable food? Will we actually be prepared to do this on our own?
Our first overnight ride, sitting astraddle a tumble of bags and packs, is a share of three-tier single bunk beds, each not quite six feet long (passersby keep getting hooked on my toes all night) along with a sheet and a dusty blanket. We remind one another that this “reserved sleeper” is pure comfort compared to the human cattle cars down the way.
Another train ride, this time in the very early morning from Jhansi to Agra. We climb into a sleeper car that has come from Mumbai and the far south. Many people are still curled asleep, others are half-awake sitting in scatterings of the nights blankets, bags, food and clothes. We have been cautioned to be patient, let people wake, organize themselves. Good advice. We sit across from two woman and a restless child, and two men who turn out to be part of the new world of global citizens, one an engineer, the other a medical researcher who seemed to have spent most of his life studying/researching outside India and who says he understands German better than he does the Indian women next to us.
A third train ride, now from Agra to Delhi late afternoon and evening, spacious seating, even clean feeling. We are getting accustomed to spotting the station signboards, navigating the track overpasses, watching for red-shirted rail staff if we need directions, remembering Vivek’s rail cautions. Arrival platforms change right to the last minute. Keep your eye on the men in red shirts and keep asking. Make sure your ticket matches the car number. Always, always remember that train stops can be surprisingly short, the press to get into cars quick and intense, so make sure you’re ready, make sure to push your way on, but without being ‘pushy’ – or get left behind. Once settled on board today, we wave off India Rail’s ‘very spicy’ (Vivek cautions) “Meals on Wheels” dinner and pull out our pizza and apples.
Footnote: Indian Railway carries some 30 million passengers each day, using about 7,500 trains and employing some 1.4 million people. Each year there are dozens of derailments, and reportedly some 15,000 deaths and many more injuries.
Footnote on train toilets and deaths: Research shows that human excrement and urine, discharged directly from passenger car toilets onto India’s tracks, are corroding the tracks and hindering the safe maintenance of rail cars. Dr Anil Kakodkar, head of a committee looking into Indian train safety, says that the toilet discharge “is one of the life limiting factors .... Because of the pH content of the toilet discharge, there is widespread corrosion of the rails. These toilets need to be discontinued. We also found that maintenance workers often refuse to service the undercarriage of the trains because discharge from toilets makes the undercarriage extremely dirty.”
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