Indian Railways Chugging ahead
When good things happen, we should talk about them.. More so, when it comes to the good things happening in India and how it is changing.
After many years due to a change in my work profile, I have been taking a few train trips across the country. A couple of weeks ago, due to a sudden unplanned trip, I had to take a train from Chennai on a 4 hrs journey. Since the trip was unplanned, I couldn’t get a reservation. But it was important for me to be at the client site the next day morning. So I boarded the general compartment with a general ticket. Sure it was a pleasant surprise. Firstly, it wasn’t too crowded since possibly the number of trains has been increased across the zones. Second, it was pretty neat and very well maintained (including the washroom). The stations were maintained neat and I see a clear change from my experiences a few years ago. I relived my college days of standing at the gate and watching the fields and the signal posts pass by.
Second, on my way back again, I didn’t have a reservation. So I boarded an express train with the same general ticket but into the AC bogey at the last minute. The TC enquired as to why I boarded the running train and assured me he would help me. This was all in the presence of other co-passengers. He asked me to be seated in the next bogey and followed up with a Challan with the required penalty and a receipt for the same. The food in the train was also good (I would rate it a 7 on a 10), very well packed and tasty. The interiors were spick and span. Above all, the interaction of the TT and the staff was nothing less than what you see in a good Airline.
Sure, my India is changing for the better!!!
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3yIndian Railways has been the back bone of the country's progress. Mr. Sunil! you experienced the CLIENT side of the business, and not the SERVER side of the business, to use an Web 2.0 jargon. If you look into the breadth and depth of the technology enablement, on both the sides of the business, it has done in the last 10 years, is really a wonder to marvel.
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3yTrue that lot of changes happening but people don’t talk about it
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3y‘…..watching fields and signal posts pass by’, this reminds my training days in Indian Railways way back in 1996. I used to watch out for the aspects of Signals being in training on Railway Signalling system. Thanks Sunil for a well written blog. Yes, India is on a major transformation so as Indian Railways.
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3ySunil, I liked the narrative of your recent travel experience by train. India is changing when it comes to affordable travel, leisure and shopping. Having travelled and lived outside India for about 2 decades, I find now everything in my country mostly affordable and certain luxury items bit expensive but available. I hope we reap the benefit of our demographic dividend for next 2 decades which no other country in the world is anywhere close to our growth. India has truly changed a lot from the times we saw 3 decades ago.