I travelled from Jalandhar to Delhi 31st may 2016. It was an unplanned trip hence,we had no prior reservations. and this turned out to be very tough on the two of us(me and a friend of mine.) We reached Jalandhar by bus(Punjab Roadways) properly. The same night when we reached the Jalandhar ISBT to return to Delhi, there was a different scene. We found a large Delhi-bound crowd waiting for buses. Soon we realized that all the buses had been booked (AC/Non-AC/Punjab roadway/Haryana shakti/Devbhumi Himachal) Owing to the cancellation of Shane Punjab express and Hoshiarpur- Delhi express. Hence, the options narrowed down to railways. I found out on rail enquiry that there are a few trains to Delhi in the next few hours from Jalandhar Cant railway station (not the city station.)Hence, we rushed to JRC. We bought super-fast tickets to Delhi and started waiting for the first train to arrive....
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First, one to arrive was Jammu mail. As expected very GS coach was overcrowded, so were the Sleeper coaches. We could not board the train. Next was JAT-TATA/ROU Express, the story of GS was same, still we boarded one of the SL coaches and stood near the door. In no time the TTE showed up, I approached him to allow us to travel, the dutiful guy politely declined and asked us to deboard at Phagwara Jn. Hence, we got down at Phagwara and started to find some space to stand in GS,alas the horn blew. We were left at the deserted Phagwara Jn and started to walk to the centre of the platform(1) where we found many Delhi-bound passengers. Next was Golden Temple Express with a WAP5 at the helm, the same thing happened. I went to the control room and asked the guy over there about the next train and it's position. The next train was ASR-DDN Lahori express. We had by then made up our mind to travel up to Ambala by train anyhow as for the remaining stretch(UMB-DLI).After an hour wait, GZB WAP1 entered the platform with our train in tow. We were lucky enough to get on a GS compartment and a place to keep ourselves standing for the next 3 hours. The train started to accelerate and in no time, we crossed Phillaur Jn. Next to come was Ludhiana, where we were hopeful of getting some space to sit on the floor near the toilet. Ludhiana crossed and I sat down and got some good sleep until we reached Rajpura JN. The next stop was Umbala ,as we waited patiently. Half an hour late we reached Ambala and walked to the bus stop adjoining the railway station. In no time, we were on a bus to Kashmere gate ISBT and reached Delhi.
This eventful and adventurous trip was an eye-opener for me as I realised many things. Maximum numbers of the travellers who take the trains are the ones who travel in unreserved coaches. The numbers of travellers are way more than the coaches attached to our mail trains i.e. 4-6. As a result, the coaches are overcrowded. I have personally seen many such horrible scenes on my way home to Bihar where the unreserved crowd risks their lives into the foot plates and toilets of these overcrowded coaches .Moreover, those passengers are not so aware of train timings, mail/superfast distinctions, and train routes. The question arises who shall address these problems. Are the authorities aware of these things situations and their consequences? Or just because they do not tweet they are unheard. On the other hand, I would really appreciate the steps taken by The Minister of Railways and many good officials of the department which is evident. But this does not mean these are not serious problems.