Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a bouquet of railway projects across the country on Thursday, hailing the day as a “landmark” in India’s rail infrastructure journey, the scene at Howrah station, the country’s oldest and one of its busiest terminals, was one of simmering chaos.
Passengers slumped on dusty platforms, sweating it out under the May sun, waiting for trains that were running up to 15 hours late. The enquiry offices were teeming with people and whiteboards displayed the delays in departures and arrivals, offering little relief to hundreds of passengers stuck in limbo.
Social media is also full of reactions as the painstaking wait for travellers at Howrah Station becomes all the more unbearable.
“The Mumbai-Howrah Duronto Express reached 15 hours late. It was supposed to depart CST station at 5pm the day before yesterday but the journey began at 2am in the night,” said Anurag, surrounded by his mother, daughter and an entourage of trollies.
On the same day that the Prime Minister inaugurated 103 Amrit Bharat stations across 18 states, promising modern design, improved amenities and connectivity, the ground situation at Howrah — the lifeline of eastern India — made a mockery of those grand declarations.
It was the South Eastern Railway that bore the brunt of the chaos. The Kantabanji-Titlagarh Ispat Express, Falaknama Express, Puruliya Express were among the trains that were running over three hours late.
A family of six, headed to Puri for a vacation, sat on a bedsheet next to their luggage, looking visibly disoriented. “Our train was delayed by three hours. Now they’re saying ‘indefinite delay’ due to operational issues. What does that even mean?” asked a school teacher from Serampore.
Santu Maity, a resident of Howrah, said he was waiting for almost three hours but the Sainagar Shirdi Howrah Express was yet to arrive.
South Eastern Railway officials cited “non-interlocking work” at Santragachi rail yard as the reason for the disruption. The yard remodelling work at Santragachi was done between April 30 and May 18. However, the work is far from over, according to a railway official who did not wish to be named. The disruption in railway services is expected to continue till the first week of June, the official added.
At the new executive lounge near the old station entrance — recently refurbished as part of a facelift — some passengers were listening to the Prime Minister’s speech on their phones.
“The roads in our country should be modern. The airports in our country should be modern. The railways in our country should be modern. For this, work has been done at an unprecedented pace in the last 11 years,” Modi said. At that moment, the irony wasn’t lost on stranded passengers watching the screen with blank expressions.
Outside, a licensed porter sat cross-legged near a tea stall. “They build new domes and paint walls, but if trains don’t run on time, what is the point? People come here to reach somewhere, not for sightseeing,” he said with a wry smile.
Roughly 1500km from Howrah, there's criticism pouring in from Hyderabad city's Cherlapally Station. Posting a video of rainfall piercing through the platform's roof, an X user wrote how "one rain turned it into a water park".
