Monday 11 June 2007

The Great Indian Railways

This post is dedicated to The Indian Railways and our rail Minister, Mr.Laloo Prasad Yadav. All through my life, I have cursed the Indian railways for delays, dirty platforms and coaches, poor service, and so much more, but after my experiences with Italian Railways, I'd have to be grateful for whatever I got back in India. With the number of tourists visiting this country, and the money they are making(mostly a result of what their forefathers built), one has to be disappointed. Taking Rome as an example:

- There are no waiting rooms on platforms. Platforms close between 1-4 at night, and you have to stay outside, even if you have a train at 4.30 in the morning.
- Pay and use restrooms, even for passengers.
- All announcements are in Italian. No English.
- Trains are delayed 'indefinitely' from their initial stations for bad weather, when its not raining.
- There is no inquiry center open at nights.
- No berths on the trains, only seats. Very few night trains actually have berths.
- Graffiti all over Metro coaches (refer to previous post)

Be grateful for the wide berth you get on Indian Trains. The Chaiwaalas passing by every 5 minutes, the samosas and the bread ommlettes. The lady who keeps making announcements every thirty seconds in 2-3 languages. The coolies. The cabin attendants. If only they ran on time!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jai Bharat!

Go Deja

:P

Akanksha

bharath said...

they do run on time on most occasions...

Anonymous said...

Good words.