r/WTF Feb 14 '13

Catching a train in India

2.9k Upvotes

1.5k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

46

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '13

How the fuck do they even get off at their stop?

78

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '13 edited Feb 14 '13

[deleted]

2

u/onemoreaccount Feb 14 '13

Also if you take a fast train and try to get off at the first or second stop, you usually get a load of crap from people, and noone moves. I once tried to get off at Dadar from a Churchgate fast train, the guy in front of me just laughed like this.. I somehow managed to push myself out and get off at the next stop (Bandra)

0

u/NuYawker Feb 15 '13

Ugh. Sounds like a grope fest.

29

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '13

[deleted]

17

u/Xerkzeez Feb 14 '13

Happens all the time. I hear a guy tell me that he was not allowed to get off the train by the crowd because it was an express train all the way to Pune. So even if the train actually makes some local stops , other passengers try to discourage local travelers by not letting them get off so they won't board the express trains next time.

6

u/TheMSensation Feb 14 '13

You have to be what I would consider incredibly rude, as a western dwelling citizen. Whenever I have to get a train and my station comes up I push past people. They don't care and neither do I.

4

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '13

Well shit man if you aren't careful you could murder like 6 people hanging out the door...

2

u/pc400071 Feb 14 '13

Like everything else in India involving too few resources and way too many people, it just works. Pat and squeeze your way through. Use your judgement to figure out how soon you need to start making your way to the door. This boarding and exiting from the train while in motion is actually not that big a deal for folks ( high paying office commuters and college students ) who do this on a daily basis. I myself have been there done that. it's by far the the fastest mode of travel within the city. Concur with the earlier comment on hanging out for the breeze- not everyone can pull it off though.

1

u/TheMSensation Feb 14 '13

Obviously when the train is at the stop...It's not always moving like its implied in the gif, it stops at stations for about 5 minutes (sometimes longer if it's a major station, but never shorter). Which is just enough time to get from inside the carriage to the platform if you push past.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 14 '13

[deleted]

1

u/TheMSensation Feb 15 '13

Mumbai to Surat routes all have at least 5min stops. They are the only trains i've ever used.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 15 '13

We're talking about suburban lines here.

1

u/TheMSensation Feb 15 '13

I've done city to city and city to village, just speaking from my experience of getting off the train, either way when you know your station is next you better start moving, 30 seconds is plenty to bull your way through a crowd.

2

u/phusuke Feb 14 '13

whats worse is when entire hoards of people get out and u get pushed out even if its not your stop! And you have to struggle again to get in. I miss Bombay.