Booked tatkal in 2nd Ac for 16 hours journey from Ahmedabad to Bhopal and got the most perfect seat i.e. Side lower π. None asked for the seat exchange π₯Ή. Now all set for a wonderful ride ahead π«‘π
A comparison of the station a decade apart. Source in comments.
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Read this post fully if you have the patience. It's going to be long, but I promise it's worth it. I'm going to expose the hypocrisy and double standards of us Indians, especially how we act like slaves to the government and then wonder why we get shit service. The government is capable of giving good services, but we the people force corruption and influence-peddling. We don't deserve better until we fix our own mentality.
Yesterday I made a post (while hiding my identity). Actually, that post was on behalf of my friend, but I pretended that I was the one in that situation. My friend had booked 9 tickets on a busy train just one day before travel. Not a single one got confirmed β all in waiting. My friend was quite emotional and said, "Bhai, in this country nothing works without power or influence."
I wanted to test the mentality of average Indians, so I shared that post.
The reactions left me shocked. Instead of criticizing the government or the system, most people started defending it β "This always happens", "You shouldn't book waiting list tickets", "Government can't do miracles", etc. Some people even suggested, "Why don't you book Tatkal?"
Bro, you don't even know how the Tatkal system actually works. I know the Tatkal system from the inside. With my parents having more than 30 years of service in 35 years, I've seen everything. Railway made some reforms and to some extent it reduced the problem, but even now it's rigged. Software like Red Mirchi was banned, but new software has taken its place. On any busy business route, by the time you fill in the details and the passenger makes the payment, the agent sitting there β who is running a multi-crore nexus β will book it instantly in one second. Tatkal opens within a second by using illegal software. No matter how much the railway claims, everyone is involved. All the officers know it. Everyone gets their share of the money. Even the IT department of the railway, CRIS, and the RPF IT team knows it, but no one does anything.
If you think I'm lying, try this challenge: No matter how much you call or try, if I give you 10,000 rupees, book one confirmed ticket on any busy route right now without taking help from any agent. You can't.
Rather than supporting the common man's problem, people started blaming the victim. This clearly showed me how hypocritical we Indians are. Our eyes are blindfolded.
Proof of how the system actually works for people with influence (see attached screenshots):
I'm attaching screenshots showing how on the busiest routes and busiest trains, even 8 hours before chart preparation, our tickets get confirmed with just one phone call. You can clearly see the waiting list turning into confirmed/RAC easily.
In a democracy, nothing improves until citizens criticize the government, question bad policies, and fight for their rights. But here? People treat the government like a god. Whether it's Congress in the past or BJP now β the attitude is the same. We happily accept the loot.
Let me give you the background and reality:
Both my parents are senior government officers in Indian Railways β Gazetted officers at HAG+ level (Higher Administrative Grade). Very senior management. I have seen the system from the inside for years.
The friend whose ticket issue I posted about? I got his ticket confirmed on one of the busiest routes, on a fully packed train, just by making one phone call to my father's secretary. It got confirmed before chart preparation. He didn't even tell me initially because I was in Germany and he didn't want to disturb me.
I have this "power." Even now, on the busiest routes where normal people don't get tickets even a week in advance, I just call my dad's secretary and my waiting list (even 100-200) gets confirmed via HO quota (the VIP/officer quota that is reserved in every train β AC1, AC2, etc., for MPs, officers, and their relatives). I use it for my friends and family all the time. Common man's seat? Snatched for personal benefit.
And it's not just railways β this happens everywhere in the system.
More inside stories:
When my family travels, one phone call and the train gets priority. The Divisional Operations Manager gets a call that a "senior dignitary" is on board. The train runs on time. RPF provides extra security. At stations, junior staff and officers come to receive us.
Officers get saloon coaches β basically a 5-star hotel on wheels meant for official inspections. But many families (including ours) use them for personal trips, birthdays, vacations, with personal cooks and servants. While the common man fights for a seat.
In the past (around 2010-2015), my father managed SCRA (Special Class Railway Apprentice) seats for my sister and me through influence in the UPSC process. I even joined for a year in Jamalpur but dropped out.
Even when we visit any relative's house or railway government facility, the difference is shocking. Group B, Group C, and Group D employees have to stand in long lines, salute, and wait for 4-5 hours to see a doctor. But when powerful people like my parents or I visit, we don't even need an appointment. We go straight to the VIP section. We have taken our entire class or group with us and got full appointments in railway hospitals without any hassle. Lower employees and lower officers can never do this.
My family has accumulated massive wealth β way more than what I can earn in 10 lifetimes in Germany with my good salary and peaceful life. Tenders, contracts, all that β you know how it works.
Yet when I see common people struggling, standing in queues, getting waitlisted, I feel bad. But the bigger tragedy is that you people don't even want to change it. You attack anyone who points out government failures. You have BJP blindfolds (or Congress ones earlier). You happily accept this slave mentality.
The common man himself is enabling the system that exploits him. The inequality is everywhere, and the common man's voice is simply not heard. Until we stop defending the powerful and start demanding better services as our right, nothing will change. Government can deliver β but only if we force it through criticism and accountability.
This is the harsh truth from someone who benefits from the system but is tired of seeing the hypocrisy all around.
What do you think? Am I wrong? Or are we all just comfortable in our chains?
TL;DR: Indians defend a broken system instead of fighting for better services. Those with power exploit it daily (VIP quotas, Tatkal agent nexus, saloons, influence, and special treatment everywhere), while the common man suffers. We ourselves are responsible for this corruption and hypocrisy.
I wonder why people do not respect the rules and continue to spread filthy anyway. The cows which the sanatanis worship as mother were bathing in plastic, mud just outside the railway station. My question is, if you cannot give them a better life, why bother worshipping them?
Rate the photos out of 10 β
Not edited
Photo clicked by me
This the 22447 Ndls Amb Anduara Vb arriving on Amb Anduara PF1 1
I arrived early on railway station for railfanning, actually had tkt in it's down run (22448) so captured it when it came from delhi.
My side lower is extra cool today.
A WAG9 (possibly, it was too fast to see the engine number or identify the type) towing freight carriages going through Chirala station. Loved the sound. Hope you all like it too.
I am from Chennai, The announcement pattern in Tambaram is different for local trains while it is different in St Thomas Mount, and different in Guindy too. Even though most of them sound like recordings. Also I never heard of an announcement of a local train running late by either 15-20 mins till today (right now at the time of writing this post 8 PM 05-06-26, I heard it at St Thomas Mount suburban starion). They normally just keep saying that "the train is expected to arrive on platform no. #" until it arrives. Also the train arrival announcement also has a different pattern in every station along the route.
I don't know what it is about train journeys, but they captivate me every single time.
The rhythmic clatter of the tracks, the world slowly passing by outside the window, and a playlist full of slow songs all coming together to create this oddly peaceful, almost surreal experience. For a little while, it feels like time slows down and nothing else really matters.
2013 pic (not mine)
Mumbai - A striking video showing the Vande Bharat Express train speeding through heavily waterlogged tracks has gone viral on social media. The incident occurred as the semi-high-speed train was passing Kanjur Marg station.
Not oc
I was somewhat shocked to see Udupi to Mangalore section is still single line. Such a critical main line of Konkan Railway and still operating as single line. No Railway plan yet for its doubling.
Almost all long distance Keralam bound trains of Western Railway and Konkan pass through this line. In Monsoon, this line probably gets more jammed and more train delays. Trains connecting Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram mostly pass through this section and Mumbai ones too.
We hear so many new railway lines doubling plans. this one is needed on urgent basis too. we all know how Southern Railway gets so slow especially in Western/Konkan side during heavy Monsoon July-August.
TVC Rajdhani, Kerala Sampark Kranti, TVC Superfast(s), Ernakulam Superfast(s), Mangala-Lakshadweep SF and much much more. All run on this route only. Doubling is needed. trains running on time till Udupi from Delhi, gets delayed only in Mangalore section.
Media: Pic OC
India has only 2 Uday express trains running between vskp-gnt and sbc-cbe
I've seen a lot of people getting confused on the height of an OHE pole on whether it's normal OHE or High-rise OHE. From the surface, they may look the same since the normal & High-rise OHE poles uses the same kind of design(Except the ones in DFC's). However, if you pay close attention, you'll find the actual difference.
The easiest way to recognize the height of OHE is to just look at the rectangular openings(The ones I marked) on the pole which gives away it's height.
If an electric pole has 12/13 rectangular openings, then it's High-rise(The one on left in first image) that you'll see on ground. On the bridge, it will usually have 14/15 rectangular openings(It MAY vary in bridge's case but that's the usual number of openings).
On the other hand, if a pole has 10 rectangular openings, then it's normal OHE height(The one on right in second image) on ground. On the bridge, it usually has 12 rectangular openings(Same as High-rise, it may vary on bridges too).
Regardless of design difference of OHE in normal lines & DFC lines, the rectangular openings will remain the same depending on the height of OHE. This is just an easy way to identify height of any kind of OHE.
If anyone asks "What about those poles with no rectangular openings?"(Second image), those poles are mostly old & you'll never find them in High-rise. They are only limited to normal height.
This is all based on the repeated observation for many years.
I wonder when they will introduce more such trains in Sealdah section