The crowd and Indian Railways are inseparable partners, but the volume of the throng has reached the point where people are forced to join trains through windows. This was obvious at Ujjain Junction Railway Station, when a video displaying an enormously crowded station leaked on the internet, illustrating the rising problem of train overcrowding.
A uploaded video on the microblogging site ‘X’ showed the railway platform submerged in a sea of passengers excitedly awaiting the train. The area adjacent to the rails, which was likewise thickly populated, was not spared. To add to the surprise, as a train approached, a woman on the opposite side of the platform could be seen entering a carriage through a window owing to the enormous rush, leaving no time to wait at the overcrowded doors.
The frightening footage has shocked many people, with some worried about the safety of passengers who enter coaches through windows. Others wrote to Indian Railways, pleading with them to fix the matter.
“Climbing into the compartment wearing a saree through the ‘small door’ is a remarkable feat…,” one user wrote. “It’s called windows training!!” remarked another. “Emergency Exit turned Emergency Entrance,” a third commentator joked, while a fourth added cynicism, saying, “Look, it’s the prime meridian: anything goes in the prime meridian.”
According to accounts, the increased throng was caused by a strike called by truck drivers in protest of the perceived overly punitive new ‘hit-and-run’ rules. The strike had an especially large impact in Ujjain, where hundreds of pilgrims were delayed due to a lack of buses. The situation deteriorated when taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers went on strike, hampering people’s ability to reach vital transit hubs including airports and train stations.
