When the train changes tracks, it affects the blind passengers

The other day I had another encounter with something on the Mumbai local that still gives me goosebumps. I was seated in the ladies compartment of a fast train. A blind innocent-looking man got in the compartment at Bandra and was standing near the foot board. No one told him to take the compartment for the physically challenged perhaps because the train wasn't much crowded.

Now, when a fast train to Borivali halts at Andheri station the platform mostly comes on the right hand side. And the man was rightly standing on the right hand side. I was busy playing golf on my cellphone when, after some time, the lady beside me said that it seems that the man is going to get off. As she said so, she looked on the door on the right side. And then it was all very sudden.

I noticed that the train is coming to a halt and the man is standing alone on that side. All the other females had shifted towards the door on the left as the train had changed tracks somewhere before Andheri station. All I remember are the unclear words of that female, and that there was not a single second to waste. By the time I rushed and reached to the man, he had already opened his blind stick and he was trying to feel the platform and get off...

Thank God and the female who noticed him that I could pull him just at the right time. Suddenly every single female realised what could have happened. Then all helped him get off on the platform, the one which unfortunately was on the other side for him.

Who would have thought that even a train changing tracks can be so dangerous for some. What if the man had been travelling alone? What if no one had noticed?

Few things still make me think:

• How come the females who moved to the other door didn't notice that there's a blind man trying to get off on the wrong side?
• Why did the female who noticed it didn't rush to help him?

Everything boils down to the same thing - we need to be more alert and careful while travelling, for the benefit of ourselves and our fellow passengers.

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Bombay local - A train from Thane to Dadar

We were returning from a friend's kid's first birthday and it was around 9:30 in the night. Travelling in the central line is a rate thing for us and so we kept hopping from one platform to the other to catch the first and fast local possible. Finally, we got in a fast train that halted at Thane station.

The train had 4 types of people:

1. Those who use Bombay locals to catch up with some sleep after a hard days work.
2. Those who carry 10 times more luggage than their actual weight.
3. Those who read books to make the most of their train-travel time.
4. Cinderellas like my friends who need to reach home before the clock strikes 11 p.m.

While we rejoiced on finally catching that local, there was something that erased all the tension. The train was moving like a F1 car. At least people like us who travel within Bombay by the western line will vouch for it. Damn, it was tough and exciting to stand at the door at that speed. Our fast trains in the western line must be slower than the slow train in this route.

Try travelling by a fast local in the central side and trust me you'll forget all your perceptions about this less popular route of Bombay local trains.

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