Toilet Papers Aboard Indian Railways

One sign that Indian Railways has picked up steam against competition from air travel is the fact that we chose to travel to Delhi via train rather than airplane for an official trip. So what if it takes 36 hours to get to delhi, the combined fare for three train passengers in 2AC of Rajdhani equaled the air fare for one air passenger.

But this is not why I am writing the blog, I am writing the blog coz’ I re-discovered the comfort offered by Indian Railways’ Rajdhani trains, which is even better over air travel!

Sponsored Train: The exterior of the Rajdhani train with Airtel Ad splashed all across the train. (image taken using iPhone)

Branding Takes Over
I was pleasantly surprised to see Rajdhani (our train from Bangalore to Delhi) ‘sponsored’ by Airtel. The familiar white and blue colours of Rajdhani is now replaced by bold advertisement of an Airtel ad showing two boys playing football (one of the trademark ads of Airtel). The brand had also found comfortable space inside the train as colourful Ads informing us of the ‘Music on Demand’, “unbreakable bonds, unmatched coverage” and so on were placed at every head rest of the upper berths.

“Thank god the curtains were spared!” I said. Airtel had hit the right medium for branding its “Unbreakable Coverage”, when I noticed that even the windows of the AC bogies were cleverly covered by the Ad screen from outside.

A middle-aged fellow co-passenger remarked how he missed the pleasant trademark blue and white colours of Rajdhani and that he thought the train looked dirty with the Ads covering the entire surface.

But I couldn’t care less how Rajdhani might have looked dog years ago; I could see the value behind the ‘branding’ by private sector on a public train. The train was cleaner, and passenger friendly with the various amenities it had on board.

Squeaky clean Toilets
I must mention the remarkable improvement of toilets in Indian trains, atleast for 2AC compartments. The common wash basin is equipped with a soap dispenser, as well as the toilets. The western toilets not only have toilet rolls, but also toilet seat covers which a user can put over soiled toilet seats, tissue papers for wiping hands and an automated sanitizer that’s supposed to deodorize the toilet at set intervals (although I could see its batteries had run out).

The only complaint I had was that Laloo took away half my pillow! The free pillows given along with blanket and quilts were remarkable thinner than what used to be. However it was just a minor irritant that was soon forgotten with the other amenities provided on the train such as a charging point near the berths, and that actually works. So I had no fear of having a dead iPhone on board while watching movies on it.

The food wasn’t bad either, saving the curds that had gone a bit sour. Food was always of a certain standard, but this time I noticed better portions of curry dish (paneer or chicken), dal, rice and well cooked rotis. Whats more it came with steel cutlery, a sharp contrast over plastic ware that certain airlines still serve!

Yet another bold move I must say Mr. Laloo, coz’ for years, us - Indians were thought to be undeserving of steel cutlery thanks to a notion that we pickpocket free cutlery. So Thank you Mr. Minister for trusting us to keep good manners!

Air conditioning worked just fine and thank god I haven’t spotted any cockroaches still in my compartment yet. Water did not run out in the toilets even by evening as they usually did in the past.

My thank you
My vote definitely goes to our beloved Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav. Clearly he has shown a way forward in making a squeaky clean image of Indian Railways. One hopes this is more than mere cosmetic change.

While I write this blog onboard Rajdhani I only hope the network connectivity of my cellphone was as good as the Ad at my bedside claimed. Perhaps a wi-fi enable train would be next Mr. Laloo?