We've completed two six hour journeys on India's amazing railway system now, from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur and now Jodhpur to Jaipur. Both times we travelled air-conditioned class, which seems to be like the equivalent of business class on a plane, although the networks "sleeper" and "second' classes might be better described as "steerage" rather than "economy". Our first journey was delayed by around an hour and our second by three and a half. No explanations are offered for these seemingly "normal" problems.
The first thing that struck me on entering Jodhpur Station for our second journey was just how strangely hermetic the system is. Outside the streets are covered in shit, but once through the threshold of Jodhpur Station the platform is clean and glistening from constant washing and sweeping. Overall, the railway network offers an illusion of timeless order in a World of disorder and confusion. It has its own police force and justice system and it employs 1.4 million people, a bit more than the Indian Army, a lot of whose soldiers it seems to spend much of its time transporting around the country.
Despite the delays and the age of the rolling stock it seems to work. People get from A to B and our purchased online e-tickets were translated into a long sheet of computer paper produced on an ancient dot matrix printer which was taped to our carriage and included our names and seat numbers.
Rattling through the endless dry countryside, at speeds varying from ten to about ninety mph, vistas open up before you through the dirty windows of castles on hilltops, cows, sheep and goats grazing and traffic jams at level crossings containing every shape and style of vehicle from bullock carts to the latest four wheel drives. All close enough to reach out and touch and yet strangely dreamlike at the same time.
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