National Geographic: The Great Indian Railway Page #2

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Your diesel utilization is slumped

Your six-wagon balances

in all the yards are heavy

The stable loads are heavy

Just speak to C.M.E.

Hello Madhan? Ah, Rambu Rao, Kutny shed

for the last fifteen days

it has been having very high failure rate

Vishnu is more than a figurehead

If something goes wrong

he shoulders the full responsibility

And every month

he makes it a point to leave his office

and visit his men in the field

Like a present-day maharaja

Vishnu holds court in his private

inspection coach

with full kitchen staff in attendance

and all the ceremonies inherited

from his predecessors

The Indian Railways constitute

the lifeline of India

And it was given to us by the British

They gave us two things

The Indian railways

and a very powerful administrative system

run by the bureaucrats

We are now going on an inspection trip

And during this inspection trip

we propose to go over the entire

railway lines

See what management techniques are there

See how the cabins, the points

and the people who manage these points

look after themselves

and look over the equipment

Each one has his area of responsibility

And a super-check has to be exercised

So when we go out line

our objective is to find out what

deficiencies are there

And take measures to overcome them

No single person can possibly

check on everything

The system depends on workers

whose dedication goes largely unseen

Under the eyes of the cabinmen

tens of thousand of coaches transport

more than 12 million people a day

And one mistake can cost thousands

of lives

For this is a human railway

where the strength of a lever man means

the safe passage of a train

It is the largest employer in the world

Officially, 1.6 million work for

the railway

But Vishnu estimates that

nearly 80 million people depend on it

for their livelihood

The Grand Trunk Express continues

southbound

The trip from New Delhi to Mardras

will last 38 hours

But for many,

the journey is an adventure

And it doesn't matter how long it takes

Long-distance trains have become

temporary homes for village India

And those on board are captive audiences

for ticketless travelers

who earn their keep

providing everything from entertainment

to food

On a train, meals are a big event

and passengers are constantly being

solicited with different kinds of fare

Twelve bearers run the length of

waiting on as many as 2,000 people

They serve up to 400 hot railway meals

twice a day

In the pantry car

cooks prepare food to suit the religious

mandates of an Indian train

nonveg or vegetarian

for Muslims, Hindus, Christians

The hardest job may be in trying to

satisfy the tastes of so many

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