Long wait to journey8217;s end

The train left Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on time, in fact on the dot of 4.20 p.m. Well, well, Central Railways was improving ...

The train left Mumbai8217;s Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on time, in fact on the dot of 4.20 p.m. Well, well, Central Railways was improving after all. There was hope that we would reach Pune at 8 p.m., the expected time of arrival. But the railways obviously had other plans for the poor passengers on board the Pragati Express and the Deccan Queen which left CST at 5.10 p.m. Till Thane all was fine.

But it was only when the halt lasted more than an hour that the passengers got suspicious. More than half were on the platform hoping to hear the news on the public address system, only to hear from the grapevine, which consists mostly of the men from the pantry car, the T.C. and anyone in uniform, that the train had no signal. Great, that we all could see for ourselves. While some passengers decided to get off the train and head for Mumbai, the PAS mumbled, 8220;Pragati express will be leaving for Pune in a few moments.8221; That put an end to any hasty departures.

Everyone took their seats and the train took off. Only to halt at Kalyan at 6.45p.m. The train stayed put at Kalyan Junction for a good three and a half hours. All this while the Railway authorities did not think it necessary to inform the passengers about the delay. All the announcements said was that there was a chance that the train would leave at 7.15 p.m, 8.30p.m. and so on. Meanwhile the passengers got restless. The air-conditioning in the Chair cars had been switched off and with the sealed windows, the compartment got stuffy. Food from the pantry car was over. Says Smriti Patodia who was travelling in a group of 13 with her husband and three kids 8220;Thankfully the train stopped at Kalyan station and we picked up 15 bottles of water. If not for that we would have been miserable.8221;

Most passengers got on to the platform for a breath of fresh air and as a way to pass time. The announcement finally confirmed the worst. A landslide at the ghats was the reason why the train was held up. Did that mean that we would be at Kalyan junction till the boulders were cleared? How long would that take? There were no answers on that count.

Meanwhile passengers queued up at the STD booth waiting to call up their families and inform them of delay. Some people decided to leave and return to Mumbai. Varsha Talera who was travelling to Pune with her seven-year-old daughter decided to return to Mumbai. Says she,8220;We already had our bags off and were debating which way to go, whether to go to Mumbai or to Pune. In the meantime the Railway authorities announce that the train would be leaving in 15 minutes. So, we put our bags back on the train.8221;

Only to reach Thakurwadi at 11 p.m. and get stuck once again. By this time the children in the train were hungry and the food in the pantry car was in short supply. Says Pune boutique owner, Reena Arora, who was travelling with her two kids. 8220;My kids got hungry, tired and cranky after 10 pm. The toilets started to stink and the compartment was so stuffy. My daughter who is asthmatic started to wheeze. The whole experience was utterly traumatic.8221;

Says Lecturer Nita Keswani who accompanied her 71-year-old mother-in-law during the 14 hour journey. 8220;My mother-in-law who had recently suffered a paralytic stroke found it extremely difficult to sit for 14 hours! At the end of it her feet were swollen and she decided never travel to Mumbai by train.8221;

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Sleep and fatigue began to take over passengers, most of whom fell asleep even though the seats didn8217;t make for the best of beds. The dark night in the ghats plus the electric lines snapped by landslides had most people thinking of the worst 8211; What if another landslide hits the train? Says Arora, 8220;What could we do? we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. We did not take a bus because there were blockades because of the blasting, but look how we got stuck. What if another landslide hit us?8221;

Vinod Sanghvi who spent a sleepless night says 8220;In India we have a convenient excuse. Destiny. I kept thinking that if we got hit by a boulder everyone would put it on our destiny. But what is the railways doing about all this?8221; Adds Talera, 8220;When the railways knew about the landslide at 2p.m. they should not have taken a chance with so many people on board. They should have either cancelled the train or informed us about the problem and let us decide.8221;

Says Divisional Railway manager, A.K. Verma 8220; We have already undertaken the job of dropping the rocks to prevent further landslides. That8217;s all I can say. This area is not in my jurisdiction.8221; According to an environmentalist who wishes anonymity, 8220;This is a serious problem. We cannot comment on it without inspecting the site. Landslides are uncommon in this part of the country, so one has to look for the reasons. Then whether dropping of stones is the solution to the problem or not also cannot be ascertained until we know why this is happening. All we can say is that it is cause for deep concern.8221; Meanwhile all the passengers could do was wait till the train chugged along at 4p.m. and reached Pune at 6 a.m. Will the Railway authorities take steps to prevent such delays in the future or will landslides decide train timetables? Only time can tell.