0:00:09 > 0:00:13Indian Railways are the lifeline of the nation,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17without them the country simply cannot function.
0:00:18 > 0:00:22And nowhere more so than in Bombay, India's premier city.
0:00:24 > 0:00:31In 2005, it suffered the highest rainfall recorded in the city's history.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35A metre of rain fell in 12 hours.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40The deluge could not drain away fast enough,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and the city suffered its worst ever flood.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48The suburban network was paralysed;
0:00:48 > 0:00:52trains marooned, stations cut off.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Over a thousand people lost their lives.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02India's richest, most powerful city
0:01:02 > 0:01:04had been strangled by the monsoon rains.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10But amazingly,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14in less than 48 hours, the trains were running again.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19This is the story of the Bombay Railway.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40Bombay was originally made up of seven islands of low lying swamps
0:01:40 > 0:01:43and malaria-infested mud flats.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48Gifted by the Portuguese to the British,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50it had always been a trading city.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56But with the coming of the railway, Bombay began to boom.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Today some parts of the city have a population density
0:02:01 > 0:02:05of one million people per square mile..
0:02:05 > 0:02:10By 2020, Bombay is set to be the world's largest city.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12CAR HORNS BLARE
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Six and a half million commuters
0:02:18 > 0:02:21travel up and down the on the city's suburban rail network.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28It's like a small country on the move, and every day
0:02:28 > 0:02:31ten thousand new immigrants swell the city's population.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Alice in Wonderland type of situation.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39You have to keep on going two steps to remain where you are.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41We have no control over that.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44We are.. our job is to provide transportation,
0:02:44 > 0:02:47and if ten thousand people are coming here, then
0:02:47 > 0:02:49they have better opportunities.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51Mumbai is a land of dreams.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53This is where dreams are made.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04The dream of the British Empire was to criss cross
0:03:04 > 0:03:08the subcontinent with a railway that would be the envy of the world.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15ANNOUNCEMENT OVER TANNOY
0:03:15 > 0:03:19In the heart of the city, they built Victoria Terminus,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23a railway station of cathedral size proportions,
0:03:23 > 0:03:27now the most photographed building in India after the Taj Mahal.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44It stands on the site of the very first railway line to be
0:03:44 > 0:03:48laid in India more than a hundred and fifty years ago.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00The British Raj in India was just a blip in the history of the country.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02The British were simply the last invaders
0:04:02 > 0:04:04in a catalogue of occupations.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08But the Indians themselves have never invaded
0:04:08 > 0:04:10another country in over 5,000 years.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14The British left in 1947.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18They left behind the foundations of the legal system, the civil service,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22the principals of democracy and the railways.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27Today India is the world's largest democracy,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and it runs the greatest rail network in all Asia.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33And it all started here.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39But perhaps it was the British sense of time
0:04:39 > 0:04:41which was most alien to the population.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49Clocks and timetables were a difficult concept,
0:04:49 > 0:04:53but the railway revolutionised travel and introduced
0:04:53 > 0:04:55a British sense of time.
0:04:55 > 0:05:00Today the Tower clock, made by Lund and Blockley in 1888,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03faces the city from the dome of the station,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06and it's still wound by hand.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26They say that when the wire broke, the counter weight fell
0:05:26 > 0:05:30through the ceiling of the General Manager's private bathroom,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33destroying a fine collection of memorial plates.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38The tower clock has been called the Big Ben of Bombay,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41except it doesn't chime.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59After Independence, the private railway companies were nationalised.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Bombay changed its name to Mumbai.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Victoria terminus became the headquarters of the Central Railway
0:06:10 > 0:06:15and changed its name to Chatravaji Shivaji Terminus or CST for short.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18Its sister station at Churchgate
0:06:18 > 0:06:21became headquarters of the Western Railway.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29Between them, these two railways must carry millions of commuters
0:06:29 > 0:06:31in and out of the city everyday.
0:06:32 > 0:06:39The railway is so heavily used here that almost 50% of all passenger
0:06:39 > 0:06:43journeys in India are either to or from Mumbai.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Two nine, 25...
0:07:03 > 0:07:06To help keep the suburban system running,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09in the operation room, teams of highly trained controllers
0:07:09 > 0:07:10keep the trains moving.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16It's as complicated an operation as at any airport.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20The TMS, or Train Management System,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24is the very latest technology employed by the Indian Railways
0:07:24 > 0:07:26to keep its trains running on time.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31We have fairly good reputation for doing it very punctually,
0:07:31 > 0:07:36our punctuality is around 97%, and we have very few cancellations,
0:07:36 > 0:07:40that is about 0.1% of the total running.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51OP Chaturvedi is one of 500 or so drivers and guards
0:07:51 > 0:07:53on the suburban network.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58OP joined the railway when life in the city was so much simpler.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05BELL PINGS
0:08:30 > 0:08:33OP had already gained a science degree
0:08:33 > 0:08:35when he applied to the Indian Railways for a job,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37a coveted government position -
0:08:37 > 0:08:40secure, well paid, respected.
0:08:44 > 0:08:4730 years on and now a senior driver on the Central Railway,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51both the city and the job have lost a little of their glitter.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03HORN SOUNDS
0:09:03 > 0:09:07BELL PINGS
0:09:31 > 0:09:34The motorman's lobby is at the back of VT station and
0:09:34 > 0:09:38it's here that drivers and guards like OP report for duty each day.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Although there are numerous forms to fill out and daily notices to read,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51on everything from track maintenance to signal changes,
0:09:51 > 0:09:52there's more personal information
0:09:52 > 0:09:55on who's retiring and who's due for a medical.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02The lobby is a home from home.
0:10:02 > 0:10:07Old friends, tea, a place to relax and reminisce about the old days,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09when a rupee was a rupee.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14At the end of the month I would have saved bloody twenty or thirty rupees.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18I used to save, after smoking, smoking, everything,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20so it was very cheap.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24Previously when I'm taking my bag and tell my missus I am going for duty,
0:10:24 > 0:10:30I am very happy I'm going for my train, that I am a driver.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33But now I'm 54.
0:10:33 > 0:10:39God has given my fate - you have to bloody run the trains on the tracks.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Work like a bloody donkey.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42You won't get anything.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44So...
0:10:44 > 0:10:47I am doing that.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57More than 2,000 trains travel up and down
0:10:57 > 0:11:01the city's 300 kilometres of suburban track,
0:11:01 > 0:11:0224 hours a day.
0:11:08 > 0:11:12During peak hours, the pressure on the drivers is so great
0:11:12 > 0:11:16that trains cannot stop for more than 30 seconds at any one station.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21CAR HORNS BLARE
0:11:23 > 0:11:26With the city's roads in a state of almost permanent gridlock,
0:11:26 > 0:11:31the railways are the most reliable, the most environmentally friendly,
0:11:31 > 0:11:35the fastest and cheapest way of travelling around the city.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48You will be surprised to know that our season tickets are so cheap
0:11:48 > 0:11:53that I charge a person seven paisa for a kilometre in second class.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Seven paisa...
0:11:57 > 0:12:02I mean, one rupee is 100 paisa, and I think 45 rupees is a dollar.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06So you divide it by 45, and divide it by 100,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10and then multiply by seven for one kilometre.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22It works out so cheap that a ticket costs less than a penny per mile.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27But as the working population expands,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31the city's commuters have to travel greater distances to work,
0:12:31 > 0:12:36and transporting them is stretching the system to its limit.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40'We run an average of about 3,000 passengers per train.'
0:12:40 > 0:12:44That is what puts a pressure on our system.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47And since everybody wants to come in the morning,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51we have a defined morning peak hours and evening peak hours.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55Morning peak the movement is towards south.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57People from north are coming towards south.
0:12:57 > 0:13:04We run about 99 trains in about three hours period, carrying these people.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06That is why the overcrowding is of such...
0:13:06 > 0:13:11what we euphemistically call Super Dense Crush Load Factor -
0:13:11 > 0:13:14as if we have coined a word for that..
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Super Dense Crush Load Factor.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22As the sun sets on another working day,
0:13:22 > 0:13:28commuters begin their journey home in trains meant to carry 1,200.
0:13:31 > 0:13:37At peak times, they often carry up to 5,000.
0:13:37 > 0:13:41This is the Super Dense Crush Load.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Mumbai is the commercial and financial capital of India,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32and it's booming.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39But living in this city is tough, and expensive.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44The railway is overcrowded, but the city could not function without it.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56The writer Suketu Mehta calls Bombay the boot camp of the west -
0:14:56 > 0:15:00If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
0:15:23 > 0:15:29On the 16th April 1853, the British completed the first railway line in India.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38It ran between Bombay's Victoria Terminus and Thane,
0:15:38 > 0:15:41a small town 21 miles due north.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Thane has now become a major urban centre,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50and the station one of the network's most important railway junctions.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Indian Railways officially employs one and a half million people.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59But there are countless millions of unofficial workers
0:15:59 > 0:16:02who rely on the railways to make a living.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07MOBILE PHONE RINGS
0:16:12 > 0:16:15Balu Dhokale arrived on Thane station as a penniless runaway kid,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18and he never left.
0:16:20 > 0:16:21Hello.
0:16:21 > 0:16:22As he grew up around the station,
0:16:22 > 0:16:26Balu became something of an entrepreneur.
0:16:26 > 0:16:27Now he has fingers in many pies,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30a regular jack the lad.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35He collects licence money from the shoe shine boys on the platform,
0:16:35 > 0:16:37and he's part owner of a juice stall.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Everybody on Thane station seems to know him...
0:16:41 > 0:16:43or owe him.
0:16:43 > 0:16:47Throughout his life, the railway and its passengers have provided him
0:16:47 > 0:16:48with something of a living.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28Now that Balu is married with three kids, a house and a pension plan,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32he wants to put something back into the station community.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55This city has been the favourite destination of runaway kids for generations.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59There's a unique bond between them and the railway.
0:18:59 > 0:19:04For Balu who survived and prospered, there's also a sense of duty.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08So, as well as helping runaway kids like Shankar,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11Balu is a volunteer driver for the station ambulance.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42Railway stations and railway trains have been woven into the fabric
0:19:42 > 0:19:44of Indian life for more than 150 years.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51For traders, the railway is an inexhaustible marketplace.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54For runaway kids it's a place where you can feel a part
0:19:54 > 0:19:57of the railway family, and free to be yourself.
0:20:11 > 0:20:16Whatever your skill, you can always earn a few rupees on the train.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And for poor kids, hawking or begging offers a practical,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23but illegal, survival option.
0:20:28 > 0:20:34Everyday, another 30 runaways land up at railway stations in the city.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38Like everyone else, they've come to make a better life.
0:21:08 > 0:21:09On the suburban railway,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14women have always had the option of travelling separately from men.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Yet despite their liberal attitudes,
0:21:20 > 0:21:22in this, the most modern of Indian cities
0:21:22 > 0:21:28every suburban train has ladies only compartments.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Outside of peak hours, they provide a more secure and calmer environment
0:21:36 > 0:21:43for lady commuters, and for professional hawkers like Lavinga.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02In 1992, the railways introduced a new concept -
0:22:02 > 0:22:04The Ladies only Special.
0:22:04 > 0:22:05Running seven times a day,
0:22:05 > 0:22:10the specials were a big hit with the ladies, and with Lavinga.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Have a nice day.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44Have a nice day!
0:23:16 > 0:23:21Hawking on trains goes on all over India, but it's illegal,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25so whether you are selling toothbrushes or saris,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28if you're caught, you will be arrested and fined,
0:23:28 > 0:23:30and maybe even go to jail.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43Bye, madam.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53To protect the public and the system,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57the railways has its own police, the Railway Protection Force.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12The RPF is a paramilitary outfit.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16They provide security on trains and stations
0:24:16 > 0:24:21for dignitaries and officials, sometimes keeping public order,
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and often on parade.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31They are all railway employees.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36And as railway employees, their police powers are limited.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Their normal daily duties involve the policing of petty crimes.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46But the spirit of his paramilitary training
0:24:46 > 0:24:50has never left RPF Inspector Dinesh Kanojia.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53When morale needs a boost, he's keen to remind his men
0:24:53 > 0:24:57that in the fight against railway crime, they've been trained to kill.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32As public servants and guardians of railway property,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35most RPF time is spent dealing with minor misdemeanours.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Travelling without a ticket, riding on the roof of a train
0:25:40 > 0:25:43or crossing the track are all illegal.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45And like hawking, if you are arrested,
0:25:45 > 0:25:49you are liable to a fine and you could be sent to jail.
0:26:45 > 0:26:49Commuters struggling home crowd the trains and the stations,
0:26:49 > 0:26:54as the time of the super dense crush load begins.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57For the railway and for the public,
0:26:57 > 0:27:00this is the most dangerous time of the day.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04People are willing to take all kinds of risks
0:27:04 > 0:27:07to save time and to save money.
0:27:07 > 0:27:08But commuters die.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12They fall off trains, get electrocuted on the roof,
0:27:12 > 0:27:15but most commonly, they are hit by a train.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16HORN SOUNDS
0:27:16 > 0:27:18Nearly everyone walks across the tracks
0:27:18 > 0:27:21rather than cross by the foot bridges.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24But when these trains are running at maximum frequency and maximum speed,
0:27:24 > 0:27:28there's no room for error.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Thousands lose their lives each year on this railway,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35the majority whilst illegally crossing the tracks.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And the railways seem unable to stop them.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47In rural India, you can always hear the train coming.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50But in Mumbai, trains run silently and fast,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54and their approach is muffled by the sounds of the city.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58For the victims, it is death.
0:27:58 > 0:28:03But for the drivers, it is both dangerous and traumatic.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07BELL RINGS
0:28:10 > 0:28:13At the motorman's lobby in Victoria Terminus,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17drivers and guards are praying to the goddess Durga on the full moon.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22She's been adopted as the patron saint of railway operations,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26and they believe she will remove obstacles from their path,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and keep them safe from harm.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35As the rush reaches its peak,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39OP Chaturvedi awaits his train allocation.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43He knows that somewhere on the suburban system today,
0:28:43 > 0:28:47up to ten people may be killed and many others will be injured.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49They will mostly be trespassers,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52illegally crossing the track to save time.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55On the platform at Diva station lies the unidentified body
0:30:55 > 0:31:00of a young girl killed on the tracks.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03The authorities suspect suicide,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06but the Railway Police cannot confirm this.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26The body of the young girl is to be
0:31:26 > 0:31:30taken to nearby Thane station where Balu's voluntary ambulance
0:31:30 > 0:31:35service will take her to the nearest hospital morgue for a post mortem.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42She has no identity papers, but they think she is a Hindu.
0:33:11 > 0:33:15For Balu, it's just another routine pick-up.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22For OP, running over a person is an occupational hazard...
0:33:22 > 0:33:26a burden he has grown to accept.
0:34:10 > 0:34:15Each year 3,500 people are killed by trains in the city
0:34:15 > 0:34:17and the numbers are rising.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30The suburban railway runs almost 24 hours a day.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32The last train arrives at 2.40am.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37The first train leaves less than an hour later.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43Mumbai is a city that never sleeps
0:34:43 > 0:34:46and neither does the railway.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53For long distance travellers, platforms become waiting rooms
0:34:53 > 0:34:58and the stations become sanctuaries for people with nowhere else to go.
0:35:04 > 0:35:10For Shankar, ex-beggar, shoeshine boy, hawker, labourer and tea boy
0:35:10 > 0:35:14life on Thane station has reached an all-time low.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30Mumbai was once seven islands.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34And for the last 300 years they have been joining them up.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40The population has grown so quickly that living space and transport
0:36:40 > 0:36:44systems have become the city's most urgent priorities.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49On both systems of Central Railway and Western railway,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52we carry more than six million passengers a day - a day!
0:36:52 > 0:36:56I think this sort of traffic doesn't exist anywhere in the world.
0:37:00 > 0:37:06Mumbai is the El Dorado of our country. It's a city of dreams.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09We introduce 100 more trains, I think another 100,000 will come to
0:37:09 > 0:37:11this town and start living somewhere,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13saying the services are now available.
0:37:14 > 0:37:20The railway plans longer trains more lines and even a metro,
0:37:20 > 0:37:22but it all takes time.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25There are grand plans there, but nobody to implement it.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31For another 50 years, things will be like this only.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36I will not be alive, but my children will be travelling.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37Things will be like this.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44It is the duty of the railways to provide adequate facilities
0:37:44 > 0:37:47to the customers who are paying their hard-earned money.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10A massive redevelopment and expansion programme has been launched.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13But middle class commuters facing ever more overcrowding
0:38:13 > 0:38:18and rising fatalities are not happy with the railway's progress.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01Part of the problem for the railways
0:39:01 > 0:39:04is the system cannot run any more trains.
0:39:04 > 0:39:06There's just no more space.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08And they cannot construct more lines
0:39:08 > 0:39:12because much of the existing tracks are hemmed in by slums.
0:39:20 > 0:39:21It's been estimated
0:39:21 > 0:39:26that over 50% of the city's population live in slums -
0:39:26 > 0:39:29more than seven million people.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46With their plastic and bamboo hutments,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49generations have grown up living beside the line.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57To expand the network, these railside shanties -
0:39:57 > 0:39:59for so long a part of the city's landscape -
0:39:59 > 0:40:01will have to go.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13Today's operation to remove slum dwellers from this section of line
0:40:13 > 0:40:16is the result of months of preparation.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18It involves railway police,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22city police, municipal officials and contract labourers.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42Legally, families who have lived in a slum for more than a decade
0:41:42 > 0:41:48are entitled to be rehoused by the State Government.
0:41:48 > 0:41:49CHILD WAILS
0:41:49 > 0:41:52Faced with the destruction of their homes...
0:41:52 > 0:41:58almost every slum dweller claims to be a long-term resident.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15The slums have created a major bottleneck
0:42:15 > 0:42:18in the expansion of the railways in Mumbai.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26And the process of clearing them, rehousing the people
0:42:26 > 0:42:31and building new lines will take another ten years.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44At Central Station, the women's division of the RPF -
0:42:44 > 0:42:49known as G77 - are planning a raid on the Ladies Special.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53Dressed in plain clothes, they are on the lookout for
0:42:53 > 0:42:57ticketless travellers and illegal hawkers.
0:43:20 > 0:43:26The first victim of the raid is a young girl selling bangles.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Lavinga's been arrested.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48At Central Station, she's formally charged.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54She knows the procedure - she's been here many times before.
0:44:54 > 0:44:59Special Constable Ananpurna has heard it all before.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05Lavinga is to appear before the magistrate the next day.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19As his 15th birthday approaches,
0:45:19 > 0:45:23Shankar is taking a long hard look at his life.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26Thanks to Balu and the railways,
0:45:26 > 0:45:28he's survived in Thane for more than two years.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33Most major stations in Mumbai and throughout India have their own railway courts.
0:46:35 > 0:46:39They mainly deal with victimless crimes and minor misdemeanors.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46The magistrate today in Court 36 is Prakash Rahule -
0:46:46 > 0:46:50a human rights lawyer and a published poet.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23The whole process takes about 15 minutes
0:47:23 > 0:47:27and Lavinga has been fined 400 rupees.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29For her it's just an overhead -
0:47:29 > 0:47:34but more importantly she's also lost a day's business on the train.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40Being a magistrate I have to be a magistrate.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44I have to go by the evidence which comes before me.
0:47:44 > 0:47:46And I have to deliver a judgement,
0:47:46 > 0:47:50pronounce a judgement as by the record before me,
0:47:50 > 0:47:53even though the poet is not happy with that,
0:47:53 > 0:47:55I have to do that as a magistrate.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Balu's is one of life's natural survivors.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28But the railways have been his life,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31and today he's grateful for that.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52For the less fortunate, who have fallen through the net,
0:50:52 > 0:50:54there is just one option left -
0:50:54 > 0:50:57charity.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00Having survived on the railway for more then two years,
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Shankar has decided to join Aasra, one of the many charities
0:51:04 > 0:51:08who look after the city's orphaned and runaway kids.
0:52:22 > 0:52:27It is not a bad life, but it is not a satisfactory life.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29Not bad life.
0:52:29 > 0:52:30It is...
0:52:30 > 0:52:35I can say...thrilling job,
0:52:35 > 0:52:41but up to a certain age, it is all right.
0:52:44 > 0:52:50But after crossing that period, it is very horrible.
0:52:52 > 0:52:57Now I am 54, all the bloody joints are loose.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00So tomorrow morning, I have to go for duties,
0:53:00 > 0:53:04bloody I am going to think from night,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07I have to go for duty, but I have to go.
0:53:21 > 0:53:27OP has already completed more than thirty years of duty.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37And when he does retire, he'll lose his subsidised railway flat,
0:53:37 > 0:53:39but he has no worries about the future.
0:53:42 > 0:53:44Suppose if I retire today,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48I should get not less than 8,000 rupees pension.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51So 8,000 rupees is sufficient
0:53:51 > 0:53:55for two persons, myself and my missus.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02Money is no problem,
0:54:02 > 0:54:06money is no problem, but I won't remain in Bombay.
0:54:06 > 0:54:08That is final.
0:54:08 > 0:54:14As soon as I retire, I take myself up from railways and I...
0:54:17 > 0:54:19BELL RINGS
0:54:23 > 0:54:28After retirement he'll receive his railway pension,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31free rail passes and free medical care.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Since he'll lose his railway flat,
0:54:33 > 0:54:37he's decided to move to the country, to his native place.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52One stop from the end of the western suburban line, Lavinga
0:54:52 > 0:54:56and her family are about to step onto the property ladder.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02Amazingly after 12 years of hawking on the railway, she's saved
0:55:02 > 0:55:06enough money to put the deposit on a new-build two bedroom flat.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11It will be their first ever property and the start of a new life.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38Railways actually is a microcosmic form of the country.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42Indian Railways is something what our country is.
0:56:42 > 0:56:47We're everywhere. We've followed all the tenets of our constitution.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50There's no caste, no creed.
0:56:50 > 0:56:55We treat everybody equal in this organisation and probably the working
0:56:55 > 0:56:58atmosphere that we have created
0:56:58 > 0:57:02shows what this country wants it to be socially.
0:57:34 > 0:57:39In July 2006, a series of seven terrorist bombs exploded
0:57:39 > 0:57:42on Mumbai's rush hour trains.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49200 people were killed and 700 injured.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56The attack brought all suburban trains to a complete standstill.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02We knew that the loss of life which must have taken place
0:58:02 > 0:58:05cannot be reverted,
0:58:05 > 0:58:09but what we can probably do is to give a semblance of
0:58:09 > 0:58:12normalcy to the town,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15so that when the town functions normally
0:58:15 > 0:58:17there would not be law and order problem.
0:58:19 > 0:58:26We had announced that we will run almost all the services the next day.
0:58:26 > 0:58:30So the schools were not closed, the offices were not closed,
0:58:30 > 0:58:32the markets were kept open.
0:58:32 > 0:58:38By 12 hours in the noon, and we were back 100% on the rail.
0:58:40 > 0:58:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:44 > 0:58:48E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk