Rail travellers love carrying entire household, but can they be trained better?

The Indian railway passenger is the stuff of legend, inspiring writers, poets and film directors alike; they are famously worlds apart from their airline counterparts, even in this age of low-cost air carriers.

So, it must be a gigantic leap of faith — or folly — to consider dealing with railway travellers at stations in the same manner as passengers at airports, as the Indian Railways plans to do under the Integrated Security System (ISS).

Indians do not travel light, and the airlines’ 15kg limit merely provides a nice extra revenue line from excess baggage charges. Air passengers also restrict themselves to easily scanned oblong receptacles. Rail travellers practically take along their entire household goods, especially as journeys can last several days, unlike flights.

How our intrepid Railway Police proposes to sift through throngs of passengers and baggage — all crowding on to platform just 20 minutes before trains arrive as per the new rules — is uncertain. More so as trains will also disgorge equal numbers of passengers with mountains of baggage on to platforms in those same 20 minutes.

What happens when trains are delayed for hours? And what of the hordes who come to see off and receive passengers? As the new flow plan will be first rolled out for the Kumbh Mela rush at Prayagraj next week, enlightenment is inevitable.