As I believe that I have written before, observations and experiences on trains consist of those of six things: the trains themselves; passengers; beggars, hawkers, employees; and the view.
Especially as a result of travelling so much in December and January, I have noticed a few things. I noticed that the trains on longer journeys are usually more recently built and have outlets for mobile-charging in each compartment. The trains on shorter routes--like that from Howrah to Raxaul--have outlets only at the ends of each coach/bogie. However, regardless of whether or not they are actually new, they all look old. There is a lot of steel in the coaches (which I suppose is required) but, especially on the bottom seats/beds, there are a lot of chips in the steel where rust has encroached. It also appears that the steel has been painted after it was placed in the train. There were a couple of spots in the ceiling where paint chips had fallen out, and these areas were simply painted over. There are paint drops where there should be none. I think that the parts ought to have been professionally painted elsewhere, and then placed inside the train. Better still would be to install strong, plastic parts; it would be easier to keep clean. Dirt is ingrained everywhere, even in the sinks. It is most noticeable on the seats/beds. I suspect that it is created during the hot months when people have been perspiring profusely for many hours. Unfortunately, the residue is never clean up so it appears even in the cold months. Sweepers (both employees of the Railways and beggars looking for a handout) sweep the train to keep it relatively free from dust and garbage. However, dirt still becomes ingrained into the floor.
Especially because Caroline was not there, I rested a lot, and because I took the side-upper seat, I did not have a good vantage point. However, I did notice that there seemed to be more women on this journey than are on other trains. Also, most passengers disembarked before Raxaul; the train was somewhat empty when we arrived there.
I also realized that no matter where or when is the journey, most passengers are awake by 6:00am. Most passengers go to the toilet when they wake up, and sometimes a line forms for those wanting to use one. Thus, if you need to go to the toilet upon rising then you may want to wake up even earlier.
Shortly after we left Howrah, the hijra, a woman singing very loudly into a hand-held speaker, and two women who, I thought, were TCs (Ticket-Checkers) came through our coach, one after another. The two women, however, were actually from an NGO, and sought donations.
Hawkers, I have now concluded, are often counter-productive. There was one man selling aamsat--a delicious thick slice of mango--who made sounds that seemed unrelated to any known language. Another man was selling paper-soap (a thin slice of soap, to be used once, to wash hands and face) by calling out "paper sop". Most of them announce their goods very loudly and very repetitively. Thus, they are unable to hear responses from the passengers who may want such an item. They also walk very briskly; by the time you realize that you want something that they have, they have already walked past you.
Especially on my return trip, no one seemed to be selling packaged foods. Caroline has warned me about the potential dangers of eating oily or greasy food on the trains, and much of the food is aimed toward Bengalis who seem to relish a concoction of garbage in the guise of food. It was a good thing that I had bought a few packages of biscuits. On the morning of my arrival in Howrah, I did buy some bananas because they were being sold six for ten rupees, a very good price.
I never pay much attention to the employees, after all, the only employee with whom I need to interact is the TC. However, on my return from Birganj, I did notice employees sweeping the coach and hosing down the toilets. It was amazing to see how much garbage fewer than 100 passengers can leave behind in about a dozen hours' time.
I had a perspective of the journey that was different from earlier trips. On this trip, it seemed that Kolkata quickly gave way to villages after just a half-hour train ride. There were open wilderness and villages that were interspersed with larger towns every so often. Hooghly appeared nice, as did Serampore. Sheoraphuli's train station appeared to be a small town--not as big as Howrah or Sealdah, but still surprisingly large.
Even though it was in January, the day in Howrah was warm. The evening became cool, and the night was cold. I am glad that I brought along a blanket. On my return, the conditions at the locations seemed to be the same: the afternoon at Raxaul was cool-to-chilly, the night was very cold, and Howrah seemed to be warm.
As the train approached the Howrah station, I saw a sign painted on one of the nearby buildings that said, "Discipline Makes Nation Great". This was somewhat disturbing as it was eerily similar to the sign at the gate of Auschwitz, "Arbeit Macht Frei" (or "Work Will Free You")
In returning, perhaps I was too successful in what I had set out to do; I arrived at the train station at about 8:30am, so I would have to wait 1.5 hours. I did not have much concern about this as I frequently tell Caroline (who is habitually late) that it is better to be five hours early than to be five minutes late. However, two other concerns arose. The first was that the train had not arrived (and I did not understand why, given that this ought to have been its first journey of the day). The second was that, as I walked to the office to see on which platform it would arrive, there was a sign saying that the train would be very late.
Finally, at 11:45am--almost two hours after it was scheduled to depart--the train arrived. The train was filthy but, as I had mentioned in my previous post, some railway employees eventually came in to clean it. One would think that because it was so very late, every effort would be made to depart soon. However, the train did not depart until 1:15pm, more than three hours late. One would also think that every effort would be made to make up for lost time. However, at each station in Northern Bihar, the train would stop for an inordinate amount of time.This did not make sense as any passengers would be eager and quick to board the train, and I did not see any cargo that needed to be loaded onto the train. We were schedule to arrive at Howrah at 4:00am. From past experience, I figured that we would arrive at about 6:00am. Instead, on this trip, we did not arrive until 11:45am, about eight hours late on a relatively short journey!
At Howrah, I ran out to get to the post-paid taxis. In previous posts, I may have advised getting the pre-paid taxis. However, the process seems to have changed. Before, it was almost impossible to get a post-paid taxi, and even more difficult to get them to go by meter. They would often demand more than that of the pre-paid taxis. You could either accept it (which may be okay, given that the queue for the pre-paid taxis was usually quite long) or to dig in your heels and refuse to pay more than X rupees (which may be okay only if you know the accurate fare, and if you are a foreigner, as Indians tend to refrain from bothering foreigners--unless you are female, in which case you could very well be raped, in not only the Rape Capital of India but also other parts of India). I ran because there is now usually a long queue for the post-paid taxis (which now go by the metered rate from the station). At this time and date, however, I saw that there was no queue.
Because Republic Day was approaching, certain roads in the Maidan were closed, forcing the taxi driver to take a slightly longer route. I suppose, though, that the lateness of everything may have been a blessing in disguise. I had been afraid of arriving at Howrah at about 9:00am, the beginning of office-hours/rush hour, in which traffic congestion would be great. At this time, the traffic was more manageable. However, I was still very late in returning. I arrived home at about 12:20pm; needless to say, Caroline had been worried.