…old charlie stole the handle and the train, it won’t stop going, but it has slowed down…
what the late somnath babu could not do, the eastern railways have and rather insidiously at that. a long while back, somnath babu wanted to take the santiniketan express (12337/12338) to prantik as he was actively involved in promoting prantik as a retreat for all those who wanted a second home in santiniketan but had missed the bus in a variety of ways. terminating the train at prantik would have boosted the real estate pie a bit but that was not to be.
santiniketan express was born as a superfast train between howrah and bolpur-santiniketan, covered the distance in 2 hours and 15 minutes and stopped only at bardhhaman, till later guskara too was included as a stop. left hwh at 10.10 am and was in bolpur-santiniketan at 12.25 pm, left bolpur-santinketan at 1.10pm amd reached hwh at 3.40pm.you breakfasted in calcutta, rolled into the train on platform 8 or 9 at howrah – ‘vip’ platforms- and rolled off the train on platform 1, at bolpur and rolled into your vehicle of choice, in time for lunch. on the way back, one boarded after an early lunch and were in calcutta for tea. neither strenuous walking the length of platforms nor climbing over-bridges and the like, either way you were headed.
senior citizens at that time were dismayed when somnath babu mooted the suggestion of taking the train on to prantik, the next stop. this would have meant that the train would have stopped only for a few minutes at bolpur obliging everyone to look sharp and agile and for those headed to calcutta it would mean climbing the steep over-bridge to go to platform 2, where the train would then arrive from prantik.
it was santiniketan’s own train and it was going to be converted to just another one of those trains that go to calcutta. that wouldn’t do at all. after some concerted protests the plan was forced to be shelved. oldies went about their lives rolling on and rolling off the train conveniently.
the eastern railways, however have been gradually downgrading the train. not that one would notice immediately. it started departing from platforms 10 or 11 at hwh. hmmm… not so convenient for those in chairs and using ‘walkers’ but arrival on platform 1 at bolpur-santiniketan was still on so the hardship was just one way. Then it was platforms 12 or 13 where one had to battle the crowds embarking / disembarking from south eastern railway ‘locals’. one returned to calcutta too to these platforms and the train was getting seriously late. not so much on the hwh – bolpur run but surely on the return journey. delays of over an hour were not uncommon. a 2 hour and some, journey was now taking 3.5 hours easily but the fares remain at that of the ‘super – fast’ train that it is supposed to be.
with the installation of escalators now, (for climbing, not for the way down) the eastern railways have started receiving the train on platform 3. it then hangs around there and quietly slinks out when it is time to leave. senior citizens now stagger along to the escalators and then roll down the ramp at platform 1 – ingress and egress have become so much more trying.
…lies a body oozin’ life, someone’s sneakin’ ’round the corner, is this someone mack the knife?…
