Train Travel & Shramik Specials

In view of the clearly demonstrated strong dependence of the Indian economy on the masses of internal migrants, Shramik Specials should be a regular feature between major industrial urban centres and the hinterland and back.  These trains could be point to point, fast, comfortable, cost effective with no frills.

It could be a game changer for the entire economy. Such trains services would help the labour supplying areas by way of inward remittances and improvement in skill levels. The industrial areas can make productive use of the labour and prosper.

Railways should prioritise running between centres where the respective State Governments are willing to provide facilities and subsidise costs so that running of such trains would not involve any subsidy by the Railways. The subsidies should come exclusively from the concerned State Governments.

These thoughts are based on my experience in traveling by train. I often travel between Bangalore / Hyderabad and Banaras / Patna – at least once or twice a year. Sleeper class coaches of trains running in this sector are always full of such economic migrants – throughout the year, and the choice of trains is limited to one a day. It is next to impossible to get reservations by sleeper class on the trains unless done 3 months in advance. Even Tatkaal bookings get filled up within minutes of their being made available online. By the time the train reaches its destination it is invariably 4-5 hours late. Average speed is less than 50 kmph. Half-way through the journey the toilets invariably become filthy and there is no water in the coaches. I have tried innumerable times to contact the various Railway helpline numbers in such situations. Either the numbers are not reachable or no one responds. Sometimes, one gets a “please check the number you have dialled” kind of error message. On the rare occasion, that one is able to contact a railway official on phone or corner the hapless one fishing around the train in search for easy money, the response is either – it is not my responsibility or we will inform next station and they will attend to the complaint. Never has a complaint been addressed to the extent that a solution emerges before the journey is completed, or even after.

On one occasion, I along with co-passengers sort of gheraoed the coach conductor since there was no water in the train from Nagpur onward. His response was classic – please tweet to the Railway Minister it will get rectified. He was somewhat subdued when I asked him if the Railway Minister is supposed to attend to such small problems, what is he drawing his salary for? Post this, the best I could manage was to get me his complaint book so that I could make a written complaint. There was no solution to our problems till the train had reached Varanasi where I got down! Yes, I did get a call from someone from Varanasi Cantt station the next day apologising for the deficiency in service and promising to look into the matter. Thank God for Small Mercies.

I have also tried lodging online complaint a number of times on the public grievances portal. Yes every time I have got an automated polite meaningless acknowledgement but never a resolution of the problem. Seems like railway officials in general are extremely skilful (or should I say slimy and slippery) in getting away by inventing far-out explanations. Or is it the general state of affairs of my country!

A long time ago I used to travel regularly between Katihar and Patna / Mughalsarai by a train which was meant essentially for catering to needs of agricultural labour travelling from Bihar to Western UP / Punjab and back. The train consisted largely of unreserved general compartments. The train was classified as an express but was effectively a passenger train, stopping at virtually all stations and given the last priority on use of tracks. It was impossible to be sure when one would reach his destination. On one occasion it has taken me over 24 hours to travel the 300 kms from Katihar to Patna by this train, even though there was no problems with the tracks or the engine or the rolling stock. Incidentally, I have never met anyone travelling without a ticket on these trains. But the Ticket Examiners used to really fleece the mostly illiterate passengers with all kinds of threats. I have no clue if the situation in those areas have improved over the last 30 years.

These days I also travel frequently between Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bangalore - invariably by overnight sleeper class. Coaches are clean. Staff are polite and responsive. There are no ticketless travellers and rarely do people without reservations board the train. During peak seasons, generally on weekends and during major local festivals, for getting confirmed reservations, one can generally plan 10-15 days before date of travel date, failing which Tatkaal is a decent alternative. Moreover, there are multiple options so that even if one does not get reservation in a train with most convenient timings, there are other options available. Railway stations are invariably spotlessly clean with various passenger amenities, with comfortable waiting rooms, escalators connecting all or most of the platforms (at least for the ascending section), and most importantly trains run on time with higher average speed. The staff must be getting paid the same kind of salary and allowances and getting similar perquisites. But what a difference in quality of service. One reason could be the lower pressure on railways due to good quality inter-city road services too.

All said and done, it is always fun to travel by general and sleeper class coaches of Indian Railways. One gets to a feel of the country, its colours, and foods and of course one gets to meet the most interesting people.

After all Mera Bharat Mahan!