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We can't generalize “Indian trains” here.The picture in question (see comment by Quora Question Details Bot) is a locomotive of Bangladesh Railway.This is a typical scenario in Bangladesh, because the trains are not yet electrified. There are no electric wires and poles. The speed is also slow. So, people are able to travel on roofs.A typical Indian train looks like this:As you can see, the railways are electrified. There are electric wires over the train and electric poles nearby. If any person travels on the roof or swings, he/she will get killed. It's stupidity to travel on the roof of an electrified train. Moreover, the speeds are around 100 km/hr on average nowadays, so people prefer to stay inside the train.→ Coming to crowd. It depends on the type of coach and train.There are different kind of coaches- AC, Sleeper and General.AC and Sleeper are reserved. General is unreserved.There are usually 6 AC coaches, 12 Sleeper coaches, and 4 unreserved coaches in an average train (although numbers may differ).This is how reserved coaches are like:This is AC sleeper.Each seat has a number attached to it. Usually one coach has seats numbered 1-72 (some have 1-80), that means only 72 (or 80) human beings (excluding babies below 5) are permitted to travel, with a ticket. If you are an extra human in the coach, you'll be either fined by the Train Ticket Examiner or asked to go to the unreserved coach from the next station.Hence, overcrowding is illegal in reserved coaches.Unreserved coaches, aka general coaches, are like this:It is crowded inside, because there is no restriction on the number of people permitted due to lack of seat count.But no one hangs outside the train. They'd at the most stand near the doors. If you hang, there are high chances of you getting slipped and killed.But doors of reserved coaches are usually closed while running.(Obvious in case of AC bogies)There are different kinds of trains and coaches. The following examples would help you identify Indian trains correctly:The Red coaches are LHB coaches (new technology)The light blue coach is for Shatabdi and Gatiman expresses, which are the fastest trains in India (160 km/hr).The Green coach is for Garib Rath express.The deep blue train are normal passenger trains.The train having yellow and red mix with two storeys is a double decker train.The double decker has significantly helped in controlling crowd.There's also a beautiful train with shades of green, yellow, orange and red, known as Duronto Express. These are long distance trains, usually having no intermediate stations.Then there are luxury trains like Maharaja Express, Golden Chariot, etc.They have special colors and designs which would help you identify them.Due to high ticket prices, it's highly unlikely to be overcrowded.Now let's come to a different category of “Indian trains”.These trains operating in India are called metros.These trains have automatic doors and hence everyone has to get inside.The first ever metro rail began its operations in 1984 in Kolkata.In case you're surprised, yes this is India, unlike your stereotypical image.There is also a type of train in India, called the “monorail”.Presently operating in Mumbai, but is expected to expand to other capital cities.There's no way one can overcrowd such trains, unless one wants a one way trip to heaven.There's another category of trains called suburban or local trains.These trains commute within the suburbs and are found in big cities.They are crowded during rush hours. But again no roof riding. People use these trains to commute to work and home.All these are “Indian trains” and the government has done a lot over the years to improve railways.The most recent development unveiled in 2019 is the Train 18 aka Vande Bharat Express that looks pretty much like a western train, and shall replace the Shatabdi Express gradually.Similarly Train 20 is on its way and is expected to roll out by 2020, replacing the Rajdhani Express.By 2030, we would be riding these type of trains:Lastly, I would like to make a clarification about an image that has been spread all over foreign media. The image has been used to mock Indian railways.This is not an Indian train.This is a train from Pakistan. It's an old photo. Decades old. Even Pakistan doesn't have such kind of situation now. This is a common train in Pakistan —Even their trains aren't electrified yet, so you can expect roof riding.It is important that you should be able to identify trains from different south Asian countries and not confuse one with another. The following train is a coach of Nepal Railway -Their railway is not electrified. The area covered by railway is also very less.→Indian trains usually have multiple Indian languages written on the nameplates, so you can identify.The above train has three languages printed — English, Hindi and Odia.So, I request foreign media to stop spreading false information about Indian railways.Image source: Google Images

India is a rapidly developing economy with numerous developmental needs. A major component of India’s developmental plan is the upgradation of current rail networks as well as the development of new high speed rail corridors popularly known as bullet trains. The Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project, is a visionary project by the NDA Government which will herald a new era of safety, speed and service for the people, and help Indian Railways become an international leader in scale, speed and skill.New technology has not always been adopted easily, and has at most times seen resistance. However, history shows us that new technology and advancements are highly beneficial for the country. For example, we see that naysayers had also criticised the start of the Rajdhani Trains in 1968. Even the chairman of the railway board opposed it; such things keep India backward. But today, they are the trains that everyone wishes to travel in.Another example of when people thought India was not ready for new technology was when the mobile phone was introduced into the market. At the time it was considered to be elitist and expensive with a phone call costing Rs. 16 per min. But today India has the 2nd largest market for mobile phones in the world with almost every Indian owning a mobile.Similarly, the Bullet Train project will also help Indian Railways revolutionise every passenger’s journey. Here’s how this project will help the nation and Railways grow in many ways:A Low Cost ProjectThe bullet train project not only adds to the rail networks in terms of transport capabilities but also adds to the growth capabilities of the country. Here’s how:The project is funded by a loan on terms which tantamount to a grantThe Ministry of Railways has been given Rs. 88,000 crores as a soft loan from the Japanese government which will help Railways to kick off the process.The minuscule interest rate of 0.1% and the repayment time of 50 years is economically advantageous to our economy.As the repayment of loan is to begin after 15 years of receiving the loanIt is not compromising on funds from safety since, this money for the bullet train is coming from Japan. I have already addressed the steps we are taking to improve safety in an earlier quora post.Promoting Make In India VisionAs per the agreement, the project has ‘Make in India’ & ‘Transfer of technology’ objectives. This is how it will add fuel to the Government’s ‘Make In India’ mission:The Make in India objective will ensure that most of the amount invested in this project would be spent and utilized within IndiaWorking With A Cutting Edge TechnologyActive interactions are already taking place between the industries of India and Japan. The country is getting a cutting-edge technology for the high-speed train project. Here’s how the 50 years old Shinkansen Technology by Japan will uplift the project:The train delay record of Shinkansen is less than a minute with zero fatalityThe project is set to provide reliable and comfortable service with high standards of safetyTechnology regarding disaster predictions and preventions will also be acquiredNew technologies in ballast-less tracks, under sea tunnels etc. will be developed, and we will work towards proliferating these across RailwaysTherefore, with the presence and availability of this technology, India will leapfrog to the cutting edge of latest train developments with passengers able to reach their destination in 2 hours as against the current 7-8 hours by train.Helping India’s Economic GrowthThe Bullet Train project will also help the nation boost its economic growth by:Manufacturing in India, will give a boost to job creation and exporting to the worldTotal 12 stations, 4 stations in Maharashtra & 8 in Gujarat, will emerge as economic powerhouses powered by easy travelLong run costs are also expected to fall through the advantages gained by economies of scale further developing our networkCreating More JobsHon’ble PM Narendra Modi rightly stated that the prestigious bullet train will be a game-changer for the nation, besides being ‘a symbol of New India’ that his government seeks to build by 2022. Here’s how this project will be a major driver in job creations:It will create employment opportunities both in the Short Run and Medium Run and generate employment for about 20,000 workers during the construction phaseHigh Speed Rail Training Institute being developed at Vadodara would train 4000 workers resulting in standards that are on par with Japan300 young officials of Indian Railways are being trained in Japan to give them exposure in High Speed Track TechnologyIt will create a highly skilled and capable work force in the long runThe development of the New Shinkansen Technology by Japan will ensure more growth opportunitiesSome other salient features of this project are as follow:The art of cleaning trains in approx. 7 minutes will also help in Swachh Bharat AbhiyanC02 per km travelled by the train is ~ ¼ th of an aeroplane and below ⅓ rd of a car will ensure environment efficiencyThe bullet train project will not only add to the rail networks in terms of transport capabilities but will also add to the growth capabilities of the country.

“Hey are you single ?” - she said24, side upper, PUNE-HYD EXPRESS. Okay, I boarded the train, shifted my luggage bag underneath the seat and made myself comfortable with earphones and charger for a movie which would start in 30 minutes.As soon as my wrist watch ticked 4:30pm the train started to locomote, neighbouring family of four were still figuring out the solution to squeeze in more luggage in the small space below the seat. Twenty minutes into it and they were free and easy.“Ok, yes, ok, ok, ok, yes, yes, ok, ok I'll have dinner on time, I'll take care of mobile, luggages….”, I said to my mom before I hung up the call.Everything was smooth, movie was doing well, family of four were done with their snacks, and a middle aged man below me was happily engrossed in multiple newspapers.One thing I observed during all train journeys is that if any middle aged man is carrying newspaper he will definitely carry 3-4 newspapers no matter if the journey is for 30 minutes or 30 hours. They will definitely have multiple newspapers. So coming back to the story:Time - 7:00pm.Train halted at a station, two girls pretty-pretty of about my age came into view as they had two upper berths reserved next to mine.As they were verifying their seats I briskly took a novel from my bag and acted to read the bookmarked page, this was done in a stretch of 5 seconds (because the first impression is the best impression).The duo entrenched in their respective places and from their conversation I could figure out that the two were cousins.How to start a conversation?? How to introduce?? What's their destination city?? Their course of study?? All imaginary questions running in my head.The best way to start a conversation during train journeys is to ask your co-passenger just one question- “where are you heading ?” yes just start with this question and conversation will continue for decades.Study, job, sports, politics, relatives, friends, hobbies, rupees, dollars etc.. believe me all this topics will come up after that one question during Indian train journeys.So I gathered all the courage I had, to ask that one question to the two girls, “To which city are you heading ?”No sooner did I turn my head to start a conversation than I noticed she was already staring at me. I was completely blank for a second and I forgot the lines, I mean I forgot the question which I was about to ask….Within no time she said- “Are you single?”. Yes, she said exactly those words loud and clear.I was totally dumbstruck, shocked, flabbergasted, stunned, frozen, everything…This question was out of syllabus I wasn't prepared for it, I mean I wasn't prepared to answer this directly.You could have started with hii, hello, good morning… ooh sorry its 7pm so good evening, or start with nice journey nice weather nice novel nice shoes…sorry I wasn't wearing shoes… thousands of irrelevant unnecessary thoughts running in my headSurprisingly I could see the other girl (her cousin maybe) waiting for my response and also the boy who was with family of four paused his game and was eagerly awaiting for my reply.Carrying phone in one hand and novel on the other, I was still figuring out the way to hide my face and avoid the question but I was already frozen with mouth wide open from which words were trotting out but couldn't!!“ooh I meant are you travelling alone or with someone else" -she said finally.A sight of relief ran down my spine and I finally answered “yes I'm travelling alone"“ok; it would really be helpful if you could exchange your seat with my uncle whose seat is three blocks away, seat no. 56”-she asked with cute smile on her face.With that smile she can even melt rock, so those imaginary conversations which I planned with her after asking about destination, slowely started fading away making me glum and tearful.“yes, sure I'll exchange the seat, not a problem”- I said painfully.Next step, I took my belongings and shifted to her uncle's seat.Finally uncle was satisfied, two girls were happy and I was………….well you know the answer.Thank you.-Jishan Jiwani.“Since I have recently started writing on Quora any feedback/corrections/edits from your side will be helpful.”