One new compartment please

Walked into the local train compartment today to be pleasantly surprised. The Indian Railways department has been experimenting with the interiors of the compartment for sometime now. All the while I have been drawing up my own plans, mentally of course, regarding the best way to accommodate the most people. That happens only when the compartment is crowded, of course.

Well my plan was to convert the three seaters which often accommodate four people, the famous fourth seat of Mumbai Locals, into two seats. Like in the bus. Only here the rest of the plan will remain the same. While this plan has stuck in my head I have seen the authorities change the seating plans by removing one seat near the door or the two seats in the middle of the compartment or re-plan the seating to resemble the metro. People who travel everyday would have noticed what I am saying.

So yes I was glad to see my plan converted into reality. It needed some finishing touches, but yeah the plan was there. But the experiment was at the wrong time, wrong train. The Kalyan fast, in the morning is hardly crowded. In fact, there are hardly any people in the train. I travel around the same time every day, but I catch the Kasara fast or Thane fast sometimes, depending on what time I reach the platform. However, people avoid the Kalyan train for whatever reason. That is upto Dadar. Even then it is not really crowded and there are enough seats available.

The best time would be to see this was in the evening or while coming back from Kalyan in the morning. However, I am not going to do that. Have to reach office in time and I do not have the courage to jostle the crowd. So keeping fingers crossed that they like my plan and look forward to less crowded trains.

Just to inform whoever is reading, that I used to dabble in interior designing some years ago and that’s why I keep doing these renovations in my head all the time. So, since I am talking about my great plans, I have one more request from the Indian Railways and that is double decked long distance trains. The ones that go up to Virar, Kasara and Karjat. I have been expecting them for the last 10 years, but now everybody is talking about it. Even while I was getting down at my station I heard a man telling a fellow passenger that it would be nice to have double deckers to ease the crowd. So if anyone out there is listening please help get this message across to the proper people. Ciao!

CARS, CARS Everywhere and nowhere to go

Just the other day I was discussing with a colleague that there are more cars in Bombay than there are parking spaces. I remember the good old days when the sole concerns of most car buyers were size, just enough for the family to sit, and fuel efficiency. Brands did not matter. Somewhere along the way brands started to sense. This was simply because certain brands guaranteed quick and efficient after sales service, and spare parts availability and price. More recently car buying preferences have changed and there are more international brands on the roads. That was not surprising, since the number of millionaires is increasing. What is really worrisome though is that the concern for buying a small car has gone out the window and fuel efficiency has become the bread and butter for the environmentalist. So as I sit reading a survey report informing me that Indians are more open to buying cars online, I expect to see nightmares of bumper to bumper traffic that is not going anywhere and me having to walk to office. 

why doesn’t the central line improve

The central railway local trains are pathetic. Yet, they seem adamant to stay the way they are. What is even more pathetic that we, the commuters seem to accept them the way they are. Why don’t we protest. or has protesting lost its value because a group of people have become protest specialist and others who do become anti nationalist.

why doesn’t the central line improve

The central railway local trains are pathetic. Yet, they seem adamant to stay the way they are. What is even more pathetic that we, the commuters seem to accept them the way they are. Why don’t we protest. or has protesting lost its value because a group of people have become protest specialist and others who do become anti nationalist.