Biting the bullet, passengers off to Maximum City

“It seems the whole nation is under attack,” said Meenakshi, settling down on her seat in the Paschim Express.

“It seems the whole nation is under attack,” said Meenakshi, settling down on her seat in the Paschim Express. As the train departed for Mumbai at 11:20 am on Thursday, fear and anxiety was clearly stamped on the faces of all passengers.

Meenakshi is off to Maximum City to fulfil her dream of becoming an air hostess. “I have to appear for an interview and I have been waiting for such an opportunity for the last two years. I have no other option but to go ahead with my scheduled travel,” she said, with a mix of confident and apprehension.

The families these travellers are leaving behind can only pray for their safety. “I have changed my mind over a hundred times regarding sending my daughter, Ramandeep, back to Mumbai. But I hardly have a choice — her vacation is over and she has to resume her course in IIT,” said Mohinder Risn, a resident of Sector 22.

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In the evening, the mood at the time of arrival of the train from Mumbai was in stark contrast to the hours before. Everyone, the passengers and their eagerly waiting relatives, seemed to heave a collective sigh of relief at escaping the city safely.

“We boarded the train from Bandra on Wednesday morning. If we had stayed a day longer, our fate would have been very different. I cannot express the feeling of being back with my children in words,” said an elderly couple disembarking from the train.

The railways did not report a major rise in the number of cancellations for the Paschim Express.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Indian Airlines stated that they accepted around 50 cancellations today. “Since morning, I have received several calls enquiring about the flights. Most of the cancellations were by those going to Mumbai on business or personal visits,” said the official spokesperson of Indian Airlines.