So I had to board a train from Sawai Madhopur to Jaipur, when I was in Ranthambore last month. That's when I realized how vastly improved was the new Indian railways. At the Sawai Madhopur station, they had a chart displayed with the reservation list on the platform. There were LCD boards displaying the wagon/bogie numbers. Every 5 minutes an announcement was made about the train's latest position and the expected arrival time. Here's the best deal - the train stopped so accurately, the wagons/bogies aligned with the LCD board numbers exactly.
5 or 6 years back, all of this was unheard of. Getting into a train, was quite an exercise in itself, especially if you were boarding at intermediate stations. You'd wait for the train without knowing when it'd show up (as the trains would rarely run on time). You'd bug whoever was wearing a white uniform for the train arrival time and when you heard the sound of the blow horn of the approaching train, you'd grip your bags and get ready to sprint as you'd have no clue where the train would stop. You'd have memorized your wagon and seat number, look for that wagon as the train passed by and run with the train until it stopped and finally get into the car.
It was impressive to see these improvements. Of course, Sawai Madhopur is on the Mumbai-Delhi route, the busiest train route in India. Western railway has always been the flagship department of the Indian railways. So quite naturally, any improvement in the railways will take it's birth in the western sector. Next time I'll have to ride a train in some remote south Indian corner to see if the improvements are uniform throughout.
5 or 6 years back, all of this was unheard of. Getting into a train, was quite an exercise in itself, especially if you were boarding at intermediate stations. You'd wait for the train without knowing when it'd show up (as the trains would rarely run on time). You'd bug whoever was wearing a white uniform for the train arrival time and when you heard the sound of the blow horn of the approaching train, you'd grip your bags and get ready to sprint as you'd have no clue where the train would stop. You'd have memorized your wagon and seat number, look for that wagon as the train passed by and run with the train until it stopped and finally get into the car.
It was impressive to see these improvements. Of course, Sawai Madhopur is on the Mumbai-Delhi route, the busiest train route in India. Western railway has always been the flagship department of the Indian railways. So quite naturally, any improvement in the railways will take it's birth in the western sector. Next time I'll have to ride a train in some remote south Indian corner to see if the improvements are uniform throughout.
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