The Legend of Indian Rail Lines

Book Review

The Legend of Indian Rail Lines

By Ganpat Teli

‘Halt Station India: The Dramatic Tale of the Nation’s First Rail Lines’ by Rajendra B. Aklekar, Rupa Books, Delhi, 2014.

Sometimes when we travel in the trains, we usually think of how the railway made its ways in India? What was the story of the first rail line of the country? How the project was made and it progressed? What were the challenges before the mission of laying lines? What were the reactions of local people towards this strange happening? How this network of track spread all around the country. The answers of some of these various questions is ‘Halt Station India: The Dramatic Tale of the Nation’s First Rail Lines’ by Rajendra B. Aklekar. As railways enthuse, he narrated the story of advent and development of rail lines particularly in Bombay in this book. Sir Mark Tully rightly appreciated the book in the forewords that “Rajendra B. Aklekar’s meticulous research- and his scholarship which enables him to interpret his finding- throws new light on the way those railways were built- the laying of the lines, why they were laid where they were laid, how the demands on them changed and how they met those demands.” He collected facts from various sources and created this wonderful book by putting them together.

The first Chapter ‘The Story of an Experimental line’ of the book is an account of emergence and materialization of the idea of first rail line (not only) in India (but also in Asia). Though the activities related to the steam engines were taking place in India even before 1850 when architect of the first line of India James John Berkley landed in Bombay but the first formal passenger train service was flagged off on 16^th April 1853 from Bori Bandar (known as VT) to Thana hauled by Falkland (the locomotive named after Bombay governor of the time Lucius Bentinck Cary, the tenth Lord Viscount of Falkland). Some other engineers also joined Berkley’s team at the site but couldn’t acclimatize with the weather condition and even succumbed to the death. The construction of the line was really a big challenge in a difficult terrain.

Aklekar noted down all the activities related to the construction of the first line, such as survey of the line, arrangement of construction materials, planning of line, arrival of locomotive and coaches, trial run, enthusiasm of locals and railway workers and finally the description of the first run. Apart from these details, Akelkar also noted socio-economic aspect of this development. There was not a very good relationship between English and local workers. Local workers were also on strikes with their demands. When trains were started running there were many reservations among the people of upper social strata. Rich and people belongs to the upper castes (both Hindus and Muslims) were not happy to share their space with the common people.

Next Three chapters of the book ‘Walking down the first Railway Line’, ‘The Romance of the Harbour line’ and ‘The Wonders of BB&CI Railway line’ are interesting reportage of tracking along the lines. Akelkar described the specifications of the station one by one and also traced the remains of the day. He thoroughly enjoyed the art of narration while telling the stories of the lines and stations. Line and Stations between Victoria Terminus and Thana have been gone through the winds of change but remains of Great Indian Peninsula Railways (now central line) are still there. Similarly he also journeyed the lines of Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway (Now Western Line) and Harbour line.      

Fifth chapter of the book ‘Nostalgia Along the Lines’ is an collection of the memoirs by the people of the early days of railways in Bombay. Next chapter, ‘Forgotten Lines and Lost Journeys’ is focused on the important lines and stations which don’t exist now. Bori Bunder, from where the first train of India originated is more or less existing in the name of UNESCO world heritage site Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus and known as Victoria Terminus but Colaba, Bombay Backbay, Ballard Pier Mole, Mazgaon and Bhor Ghat Reversing stations are now became chapters of the History. Similarly Trams Services and some Industrial lines disappeared in the crowd of the cities. Author of the book devoted one separate chapter on the tram services in Mumbai. In the last part of the book he covered all the recent developments related to the railways in Mumbai, introduction of trains with new technology, mono rail and metro.  

Railway is a passion for Rajendra Aklekar and the same is reflected in this book. He narrated the story in a floury language. He is a well informed writer, he has every possible facts related to the particular person, event or item. For example he shows how the root of Musjid Bunder station connected with Tipu Sultan, the ballot boxes of first General Election of the India carried by railway from Mumbai to all over India and how the hall was cooled during annual session of Indian National Congress. Author also uncovered reason behind the naming of station as ‘road’. During the epidemic Britishers didn’t want to come in touch with local people so the rail lines were kept outside of the town and nearby station was named after the same town as road. Aklekar also provided old photographs of the various stations and lines. The book is a combination of a scholarship and fiction. On the one hand, he used various references from books, newspaper archives and journals; on the other side he has mastered the art of storytelling.

Ticket coupon machines on Mumbai railway become history

    

The Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) installed and developed 21 years ago by the Railways, as an alternate to the then ticketing system, will be going down the memory lane from 1^stof May 2015. The Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) also synonymous as the"Red Boxes" will be a matter of reminiscence, as the Railways has bid farewell to it once and forever.

          The Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) and its Coupons were introduced in the Mumbai suburban section of W. Rlys on 15/08/1994. The basic idea behind the introduction of Coupon Validating Machines was to bring down the length of queues at the booking counters and to reduce the time taken for purchasing tickets. The commuter was required to purchase the coupon booklet available from the booking counters and punch the coupons of the appropriate ticket value at the machines installed at the stations, which print the station code of validation, date and time of validation, to undertake the journey on the Western as well as the Central Railway suburban trains. The coupon booklets were initially available with the denominations of Rs. 40 /- & Rs. 60/-, which was later increased to Rs. 50/- and Rs. 100/-. There were a total of 306 nos. of Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) on the Western line for the convenience of the commuters.

It is worth mentioning that true to its concept, the Coupon Validating Machines was an instant hit among the general commuters, especially, for the occasional travelling masses, thus gaining momentum to its popularity. The average sale of coupon booklets was approx. 20,000 per day and used by approximately 1.70 lakh passengers daily, which amounted to 15% share of the total daily travelling traffic.

          The Ministry of Railways has discontinued the Coupon Validating Machine (CVM) Coupons with effect from 1^st April 2015 and accordingly, the sale of CVM coupons had been discontinued w.e.f. 01/04/2015. However, the CVM coupons available with the commuters were permitted to be continued upto 30.04.2015 by stamping on the coupons.

Now, these Coupon Validating Machines (CVMs) and the coupon booklets are set to enter into the annals of Railway history as the same has been discontinued to make way for the more technologically advanced ticketing system of Automated Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) and Mobile Ticketing. They are retired from Railway service and will find its place in the archives after the completion of its final innings on 30^th April, 2015.

Story of the railway turntable

http://abpmajha.abplive.in/videos/2015/05/04/article576369.ece/railway-back-to-forward?id=576369

Yes! Dining car of iconic train will be back

Two weeks after highlighting the fact that the dining car of the iconic Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen had been discontinued leading to strong reactions from regular commuters and rail fans, the Central Railway said they will get it back. Officers said they were working on building a new dining car for the Queen at its Parel workshop, trying to be readied by the train's 86th anniversary.

Moreover, they have now invited also suggestions from commuters with ideas on how the interiors of the train should look like.

"There is good news. The Deccan Queen will get a new dining car," tweeted Narendra Patil, chief spokesperson of Central Railway, breaking the news, leading an overwhelming reaction.
Patil said that we want the regular commuters and railfans to decide how should the interiors of the trains be designed. "All suggestions are welcome and they can be sent to us on our official email or tweeted onto the @Central_Railway twitter ID which we monitor every single day," he said.

Another top official said that the car is going to be manufactured at the Parel workshop. "Basically, a pantry car is being redesigned as a dining car and it will take two to three months to complete the entire process. The 86th anniversary of the Deccan Queen falls in June as it was on 1 June, 1930 that the rain had first run. We are trying to complete the process by that date but it looks difficult," the official added. 

He said the Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) is open to suggestions from railfans and users on the colour scheme, furnishing and decor of the interiors.

The iconic dining car had been discontinued after its codal life was over and it has been replaced with normal pantry car. The dining car offered a table service for 32 passengers and had modern pantry facilities such as microwave oven, deep freezer and toaster. The dining car had also been tastefully furnished with cushioned chairs and carpet.

Bye, bye Deccan Queen dining car!

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/mumbai/others/Pantry-replaces-Deccan-Queens-iconic-85-year-old-dining-car/articleshow/46648315.cms

Rajendra B. Aklekar
@rajtoday
Baked beans with buttered bread, cheese toast sandwich, omelette bread, pomfret bread with potato chips and chicken cutlet--people will no longer be able to sit and enjoy the popular items on the menu of 85-year-old restaurant-cum-dining car of the Mumbai-Pune Deccan Queen.

The iconic dining car is no longer in service and has been replaced with a normal pantry car. Food items, however, will still be delivered on order. The dining car used to offer table service for 32 passengers and had facilities such as microwave, deep freezer and toaster. It was tastefully furnished with cushioned chairs and carpets, and food was served in customised crockery, and regular commuters are ruing the change.

Badlapur resident Amol P Nikam, who works for Infosys, queried the Central Railway (CR) about the dining car and was told that the car's codal life was over and it has been replaced with another one. "But sadly, the new one is a normal pantry car," he lamented.

"It is the end of an era. The railways should continue the legacy of the dining car, as it has history and was quite popular among generations of commuters," said Pune resident Apurva Bahadur, who has been documenting railways for more than 20 years now.

Borivali resident Akshay Marathe said, "The dining car was an integral part of the Deccan Queen experience. Its ambience complemented the delicious food. Sitting by a window of the car and sipping coffee while the train slowly wound its way up the Bhor ghats was heavenly. Without the dining car, Deccan Queen is incomplete."

Frequent Mumbai-Pune traveller Abhishek Risbud has fond memories of the Deccan Queen dining car. "Possibly the only train where you could get a fresh pizza. Baked beans with toast was my wife's favourite dish, while I liked chicken cutlet. It had fabulous seating. Food and beverages were served in nice crockery," he said.

CR officials said they will have to examine the feasibility of introducing a new dining car again. "As of now, the train has been given a pantry car, which stocks all the required food and beverages. It has been painted in the Deccan Queen paint scheme so that the coach does not look odd," said a senior official.

The Deccan Queen, initially, had only first class and second class accommodation.  First class was abolished on 1st January 1949 and second class was redesigned as first class, which continued up to June 1955 when third class was introduced on this train for the first time.  This was later re-designated as second class from April 1974 onwards.   The coaches of the original rakes were replaced in 1966 by anti-telescopic steel bodied integral coaches built by Integral Coach Factory, Perambur. 

These coaches incorporated improved design of bogies for better riding comfort and also improvements in the interior furnishings and fittings.  The number of coaches in the rake was also increased to 12 from the original 7 coaches providing additional accommodation.  Over the year the number of coaches in the train has been increased to the present level of 17 coaches.

From its inception, apart from providing high standards of comfort to the passengers, the train has witnessed various improvement such as introduction, for the first time in India, of coaches with roller bearings, replacement of end on generation coaches with self generating coaches with 110 volts system and introduction of first and second class chair cars providing increased accommodation to passengers.  The distinctive colour scheme of cream and oxford blue with red band above the window level has been recently adopted as the colour scheme for this train.

With the ever-growing aspirations of the travelling public for better amenities, improved standards of comfort and better quality of service, it was considered necessary to give a complete facelift to the Deccan Queen.

The rake was changed in 1995 with the following special features:

* All newly manufactured or about a year old, air brake coaches.

*The 5 first class chair car in the old rake have been replaced by 5 AC chair cars providing an additional seating capacity of 65 in a dust-free environment.  Also the 9-second class chair cars provide additional seating capacity of 120 seats compared to the old coaches.  Thus, new rake provides a total seating capacity of 1417 as against 1232 seats in the old rake i.e. an increase of 15%.

* The dining car offers table service for 32 passengers and has modern pantry facilities such as microwave oven, deep freezer and toaster. The dining car is also tastefully furnished with cushioned chairs and carpet.

*The history of Deccan Queen (Dakkhan ki Rani) is literally a tale of two cities.  The public of both the cities are happy with the impeccable record of “right time start” and “arrival” of Deccan Queen. Over the last 80 years of its colourful history, the train has grown from a mere medium of transportation between two cities into an institution binding generation of intensely loyal passengers.

*The management systems of Deccan Queen (2123 Dn / 2124 Up) have been assessed by International Services Ltd. and found to comply with the requirements of ISO 9001-2000 under the Joint Accreditation System of Australia and New Zealand in November 2003.

*At Present Deccan Queen (12123/12124) runs with 17 coaches including 4 AC chair car, one Dining Car, 10 second class chair car and two second class cum brake vans.

rajendraa @ gmail.com

(Thanking Akshay Marathe, Aditya Kambli for pics and Amol Nikam for the query)