A peep into the Station Master's room at Central Metro Station

Yesterday on my way to office, my 40 ride metro ticket got rejected at the electronic gate though the last day of valid tenure was another week away. So, I approached a metro official posted at the gates for help. However, after a look at my ticket, the gentleman advised me to use the side gate to go ahead (lest I get late for my office) and visit the station master on my return journey. I was just too happy to oblige. So, in the evening, I went to see the station master, rehearsing the dialogs in my mind in case he was in a bad mood (I have this notion that a majority of government officials are always in a bad mood whenever they have to do something not in their itinerary and are often far placed from the word "etiquette"). But this time, I was quite happy to be proved wrong. The station master not only gave me a patient hearing but also offered me a seat. He examined my ticket first for the balance amount and then twice at a machine kept in the room before declaring that I can continue with the ticket and that no further problem would be there). Meanwhile, I also managed to have a look at the big screen (divided into four quadrants) which was showing areas of the station being monitored by the close circuit cameras. But this peep also gave me an insight about why suicides are still common at metro stations. In fact, limited vigilance at some particular points would never be enough to stop the deaths. So, unless the government goes ahead to install railings at the sides of the platform that would open up only after a train stops, people would continue with their suicide bids on the tracks of the metro railway.

Coming back to the story, thankfully, my ticket gave me no more problems and the ride back home was eventless.

Image courtesy: Website of Metro Railway, Kolkata

Tollygunj Local

A colleague of mine has nicknamed the Kolkata Metro Railway as Tollygunj Local. The reasons are a plenty….all of which make the “pride of Kolkata once upon a time” a mere local train now.

Firstly, with the rush during the office hours, a gap of 7/8 minutes isn’t ideal to run the trains. Unless you board the train from the terminal stations (Tollygunj or Dumdum), you will be squeezed in the bogies. You may even have to leave one or two trains just to gain a foothold and an entry inside the bogies. The situation seems especially problematic for the Tollygunj bound trains from Dumdum in the morning and the vice-versa in the evening. Though I’m lucky to be traveling on the opposite route both the times, I have witnessed the pathetic condition in which people travel. Also, the rush with which the passengers jostle to get in and out….it is just a matter of time before some accidents happen. Now-a-days, even the metro-culture that was once the pride of the city has vanished (people often used to say that Kolkatans have poor manners on the road but once in the paatal, they are an epitome of courtesy). Many stations have their murals removed from the walls and the skeletons of these empty walls stare at your face. The clocks and the gates often refuse to function, causing unnecessary delay. As I use the Central Station, I can vouch for the fact that almost everyday after 7 / 7.15 p.m, the clocks of this station work according to their own whims and fancies…the digits not showing now, dancing then, a blink-&-you-miss show of the digits, and then…..all goes blank. As a regular traveler, I know the timings of the train and so can increase or decrease my pace accordingly to board the trains but I really feel sorry for the first-timers who often miss the train by whiskers due to these good-for-nothing clocks.

So, unless the authorities do something to improve the overall situation and run the trains at quicker frequency (at least during the office hours), it would not be long before our pride becomes a pale shade of its earlier days of glory. As a Kolkatan, I won’t love that for sure!!!