Great Western Coffee Shop

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b007t30p/Bombay_Railway_Pressures/

You beat me to it.

Well worth watching.

Over 3000 deaths on the railway around Mumbi a year! Chilling description from a driver as to how; when ( not if!) he runs over someone, he and his guard get the body from under the train and put it by the track and drive onto the next station and report it there for collection.

Makes you think.

I had the privilege 20 years ago of training and hosting several groups of Indian Railway electrification engineers most were from the Mumbai area they had concerns then that by 2000 the system would not be able to cope, they were in the UK (sponsored by Overseas Development Agency) to look at how BR was modernising and electrifying the East Coast Mainline and how BR maintained the WCML and GE, they had a great deal of respect for how we tackled work here and the hight regard we had for safety.

They were great people to deal with and passionate about India's railways

Great programme - reminded me of the chaos of my visit a few years ago. It is great fun riding the trains off-peak but I wouldn't dream of using it during the rush!

I can't beieve people ride on the roof of with the OHL just inches away!

If you ever get the chance to ride a train in India do it!

I trust you mean inside, not on the roof!

autotank does mean on the roof and the IR system is 25kV

 Part 2 next week BBC4 2000

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007t367

 Didn't realise that the series had been shown so many times before.

 One of the best programs I have seen for ages, even 'er indoors' enjoyed/shocked by it.
 Will never be so inpatient with an Indian call centre again.

There was another two-part series a few years ago on BBC4 called Monsoon Railway, following the lives of a small number of staff (a guard, a traffic inspector and a driver's assistant) in Assam and Bengal. Absolutely fantastic series, beautifully made, interesting subjects...almost made me want to apply for a job on Indian Railways!

If you ever see it repeated, it's definitely worth watching - one of those programmes that reminds you the licence fee is well worth every single penny.

Remember that series, all about how they got the trains through the monsoon floods.

Makes you wonder why we have so much trouble getting between Oxford and Didcot!

Highlights the point that whilst Indian H&S regulations might be a little lax, our own rules are over zealous.  Is there a haven on earth where someone has got the balance right...?