The sleeper bloopers!

 Travelling by sleeper class after 4 years. I find it not so changed as was expected.  There is a rush of unreserved travellers, the designed beggars qnd destitutes, unrecognized vendors selling everything they could lay their hands on and of course, the usual stench emanating from the washrooms which go unflushed.

The baggage issues continue to consume the legspace and the menace never seems to end. Ticket collectors seem to have  a great time pocketing the extras without billing while the travellers don't mind shelling a few bucks. I wonder why they fail to book a ticket and how they are happy to shell an extra buck to stand and travel. Not to forget is the ease with which the reserved and the unreserved chew pan and gutka, smoke in the washroom and relish their abilities to shrug the norms and walk tall.


While we have started preferring flight to trains, the fact that a lot of issues need attention and streamlining cant be ruled out. If at all we are going to plan an airport like model for railways then, a lot of stringency in administration and supervision will become necessary. Mere installation of baggage scanners wont do if after a few years of operation they become a formality. Sign boards with warnings wont be effective if they are not followed by punitive actions against the defaulters.

That we have allowed lapses to be right and right to be wrong, railway travellers have had been facing the wrath of it in the form of overloaded walking space,  invasion of seats by the unreserved and the washroom pathway blocks which have proved costly for reserved passengers who may face threats in form of burglaries,  harassments, murders, kidnaps, extortions, arbitrary charges and beyond.
The recent case of repaying crores in lieu of an extra buck charged is an example of what happens when the voice is raised in the right manner at the right time.

While we expect more of this in days and years to come, there are 'miles to go' before railways become equivalent to airports in terms of operations and implementation.


D D S Sai Kumar