Train ticket

I entered the “Computerized Ticketing System” hall 8AM on 1st of December and had a warm welcome from 1000 Indians who were spread out in different queues everyone holding some paper in their hand. I observed for a while silently trying to figure out what’s the system. There was a big billboard with train schedule; there were some papers you could pick up. There was no white face to be found. No information point. 

A local (soon accompanied by another 6 curious locals) offered his help and explained me how to fill in the paper. Without it I would have failed immediately as on the billboard of the trains there was none that would have said train to “New Delhi”. Instead the correct one was “Purushottam Express”. How would I know that? Then I was guided to a back room and I managed to get a “special token number”. At the time I did not know it was a special token number. I got out and looked at the display with the current token number. I was 200 numbers  behind. I also could not figure out how to people choose the queue they are standing in. So I stood outside the queue for a while until another local started to chat up. Quite quickly he concluded that I should go out for about 3 hours so I don’t waste my time standing here. I did not like that perspective. Another local pointed out that I have a special token number and I should go and stand in the rightmost queue and that they will start serving those special token numbers at 10AM. 

This queue had only women. Well mostly. Women seemed to be hostile to any men that tried to enter this queue. As I was approaching the counter it started to get 10AM. Counter has a little round hole in the front glass and you mark your territory by putting your hand in the hole holding the filled in paper indicating who you are and which train you want to take. It was my turn! But I was told calmly that I need to wait a few minutes. I was impressed how calm the counter person was after having to have dealt with all those customers for a few hours already and still so many to come. Day after day. 

It was my turn and I heard what I had wanted to hear all those two hours: “Tickets are sold out”. I told that any train, for any price on the 11^th or 12^th December will do. “Only stand by tickets are available”. Then I asked him to explain the stand by tickets. Basically I have to come one day before to the train station and then there is a list of people who have been granted a train ticket. I wasn’t convinced. I emphasized again, that, please, any ticket, I don’t care which class, which price. Then he said that, well, if you want to pay 973 rupies, there is a ticket. I quickly calculated, that’s about 14 euros. He had told it in a voice which indicates that it would be like buying a villa in Switzerland. I don’t know what the II class ticket would be, but I guess just couple of euros. For me, to cover the distance of 1060 km, 14 euros  was fine.

Apparently this transaction was a special one, so he ordered that I had to come to the back room again. There I was standing hopefully while another counter officer was handling my request until he came up with the conclusion “There are no tickets available.” We had to go through the same explanation-pleading process again and finally his face lid up and I was ecstatic – I held in my hands a 3A class ticket to New Delhi. What a proud moment. I left the back room, looked with compassion to the big mass of people still waiting in the 7 queues and left. It was 11AM.