[sadhuji]

When the Geetanjali Super fast express was introduced between Bombay and Calcutta, it was a real pleasure to journey on it. It was the fulfillment of a dream for the Bengalis of Bombay. Later, when Mamata Banerjee became the Railway minister, she gave her nod to have a halt at Nashik Road. The train used to leave Bombay VT at 6am, it still does. But the total journey time has been shortened considerably. In 2001, its scheduled time of arrival at Howrah station was 14.55 hours the next day – now it arrives at 12.10 hrs. The departure from Howrah has also been modified from 12.40 hrs to 14.10 hrs. The total saving in time is slightly more than two hours with scope for more reduction. But, the comfort of the journey is lost due to the influx of short distance passengers.

Our Indian Railways have this inherent weakness of announcing, during its annual budget, additional facilities for its passengers. Simultaneously they justify a corresponding increase in fares which the passengers have to accept. One of such additional facilities is the introduction of additional halts en-route to meet growing public demands. As it is, to cater to the ever increasing demands for better connectivity, there are short distance trains introduced over a period of time like the Intercity expresses or the Shatabdi expresses or other similarly identified trains. Still, short distance passengers flock to board the super fast trains meant for real long distance passengers who have to spend more than 24 hours in the trains. These persons display arrogance, have scant regard for the authorized passengers and do not hesitate to squeeze themselves in between the regular passengers. TTEs, who are supposed to ensure that others do not enter reserved compartments, are seldom seen. The general impression one gets is that corrupt TTEs permit travel of this nature on receipt of monetary considerations. The unauthorized persons sleep on the floor, in between the sleeper benches and the corridors blocking the path. There are other nuisance values in these so-called prestigious trains – the vendors, the beggars, the crippled and maimed specimens of humanity. In the bargain, the long distance passenger suffers untold miseries even after booking tickets 60 days in advance and paying extra money for a confirmed reservation berth.

This has been my latest experience both on the outward and inward journeys by this prestigious train. In fact, on the return journey, there was a group of six young men aged around twenty five who traveled from Howrah upto Bhusawal without any reservation. They went to the extent of removing the light bulbs from the toilets so that there would not be any crowd at that location. RPF personnel looked the other way when they crossed the group. Obviously, the chain of corruption is a long one and goes very deep.