JaJaJeEv

We’ve used the Indian Railways several times this year: these photos are at Ernakulam Junction in Kerala en route to to Goa.

No words can describe something as vast, complex, and diverse as the Indian railway system – even the clichéd ‘did-you-knows‘. (And anyway, I believe WalMart has more employees these days.)

Travelling overnight, the trans-state miles slip by in relative comfort. It’s a wonderful way to wake up, seeing rural India rattling past. Even better, you get enjoy the truly unique experience of an Indian station at night while waiting to board.

During the day, the stations are everything you might expect – squared. A heaving mass of humanity, with members of every stratum of Indian society (and several species of animal) trying to pass through – or live within – the noisy, bustling station halls and platforms.

But the chaos works. Millions of travellers get where they want to go every day, more or less on time. Millions of tickets are issued, and waiting lists planned, printed and checked off, with rarely a computer system in sight.

In fact, in Ernakulum, the centre of technology gravity was actually in the waiting room, where passengers line up by the single socket panel to charge their (in some cases, multiple) mobile phones.