For the last 30 years, 50-year-old Vinod Kumar has travelled from Noli railway station in Ghaziabad to Old Delhi for work. On most days, he risks death, hanging from the side of an overcrowded train — the chosen way to commute for thousands who make the same journey every day. Sample this: At least 30 people have been killed by falling off the 12 trains on this line in 2016, which works out to one death every 12 days. In 2015, at least 17 people died the same way. Many more have been crippled, practically making it impossible for them to continue earning a living.
But these figures do little to dissuade those who take the train every day. As Kumar explained, the trip to Old Delhi costs Rs 1.5, and he pays the same amount while returning. Any other mode of transport would cost at least Rs 30. Kumar, who works as a junior employee in a cable company, also saves an hour by taking the train.
Watch Video | Reality Check: One Death Every 12 Days On Railway Line Between Old Delhi & Shamli
Morning rush
Between 8 am and 10 am at the Noli station in Loni — a densely populated area with about 5 lakh people — The Indian Express found a massive crowd gathered on the platform. They were travelling either to Old Delhi or Shamli, the two ends of the line. A majority of deaths happen in or around Noli station, where most people who commute to work get on the train.
The 12 trains on the line cater to 10,000 passengers daily. Thousands also travel without a ticket. At 9.15 on a Friday morning, most of the commuters are workers who earn about Rs 6,000-8,000 per month. The 8.15 am train is running late, and the 9 am one has been cancelled due to fog. This means the next train that does arrive is bound to be overcrowded. The travellers are well aware of the risks they take every time they hang on to the train’s door, sometimes with the tip of their fingers, “Arrey bhai, every week someone gets killed under the train, but what option do we have?” said one of them.
At Noli station, station master Vijay Kumar, posted here for the last two years, said overcrowding is a common sight. “Every 12 days, there is a death because passengers hang from doors . They slip and are run over by the train.” Till March this year, people would even sit on top of trains, but that has reduced. “There are limited trains on either side, but the problem arises during peak time,” he said.
Broken families
The Indian Express tracked five families, three of which had lost someone after falling of a train, and two where someone had lost their legs. Last year, on September 9, two friends, Pushpendra (21) and Pankaj (20), left home for the capital. Pushpendra worked in a godown in Chandni Chowk, while Pankaj tagged along to look for a job.
They boarded the train at Noli station and made just enough room for themselves at the door. Within a few minutes, as the train was about to reach Behta railway station, they slipped and were killed instantly. Their families were informed an hour later. Pushpendra, the family’s eldest son, earned Rs 5,000 a month. His father, Om Prakash, used to be a rickshaw puller but had to stop when his legs gave up on him. His mother now works to sustain the family, earning Rs 40 a day.
“We got a phone call and it was all over. Every day, for four years, he used to travel in that train. We all knew he was taking a risk, but we did not have any other option. If we spend Rs 100 to travel every day, how will we eat?” said his father. Around 50 metres away in Behta village, Pankaj’s younger brother Vikky said, “He had applied for a private job. A month after he died, we got a call from the company saying he had been hired.” Vikky now works as a barber while his mother works in a tea factory.
A year earlier, on August 18, 2014, Prem Shankar (23) died the same way, leaving behind a wife and child. Shankar worked at a textile factory in Gandhinagar. Originally from Badaun, he had been staying at his uncle’s house in Behta. Now, the house has a photo of him, with the date and time of his death: 8.45 am. “He was late that day and the train was also running late. His friends told us he slipped at Behta platform and was dragged for a few metres until he came under the train,” his uncle said. “No post-mortem was conducted.” But despite personal tragedies, families of the three men still take the same trains when the need arises.
Meanwhile, for the two men who had to undergo amputation after falling off the train, the road to getting their life back is long and arduous. Chanchal Pal (21), who worked as a salesman in a clothing shop in Chandni Chowk, said he lost both his legs after an accident on February 17, 2014. He now walks using prosthetic legs, and with his younger brother’s support. The last thing he remembers from the day is falling off the train at Behta railway station. “And then it all went dark. I woke up at GTB hospital and doctors told me that one of my legs would have to be amputated. They tried to save the other leg, but even that had to go.”
He said the prosthetic legs, which he got for free with help from an NGO, is not without its problems. “I have rashes that just don’t go,” he said. Upset that he has become a “burden” on his family, he has only one question on his mind: “Will I get another job?” His father Swaraj Singh, a factory worker, took a Rs 50,000 loan after his son’s accident. “Till date, I am paying the interest. The loan amount is still intact,” he said. Himanshu (20), on the other hand, is confident that despite losing one of his legs in a train accident on January 18 this year, he will one day get his old life back. “I will do a computer course and try to get a job. I am lucky to be alive and I will make full use of it,” he said.