Travelling
by the Double Decker from Chennai to Bangalore has always been a bad
experience. If you get sandwiched between two other passengers in a
middle seat, it can be miserable. And if those two happen to be two fat fellows
then the journey can be hell.
I
think the Double Decker train is a badly
designed train. In trying to accommodate more people, the passenger comfort has
been completely ignored. The seats are narrow, there is hardly any leg space in
front and the upper level seats are a challenge to senior citizens and disabled.
The narrow steps make it difficult to climb with baggage in hand. If you get seats in the centre of the coach
where passengers are facing each other
then there is no space to stretch your
legs without kicking the passengers in
the opposite seats. If you are lucky to get the aisle seats, you may be able to
stretch one leg outside- but there is the danger of the vendors and other
unwary passengers passing by tripping on
your stretched leg .
Once
I was trapped in the single seat adjacent to exit doors with two seats on the
opposite side occupied by two ladies. I
could not stretch my legs in the front and so
I was sitting with my back to the window stretching my legs outside. I
ended up the journey with a strained back.
Getting
a middle birth in a sleeper coach- whether it is A/C coach or otherwise can be equally
challenging. Especially for senior citizens and people who are overweight.
While travelling in a train sitting in
the middle berth during day is not that bad, it can become a problem when
it is time to sleep. The middle berth passengers have to wait till the upper berth passengers decide to occupy their
berths. Once they move up you have to pull down the berth, place the bedspreads in position and face the most challenging
part of the journey- getting into the middle berth. Since there is hardly any
head space, you either crawl into your berth from the passage side or hop on to
the seat with your head down and slowly maneuver yourself into a sleeping
position. Getting down from a middle berth in a sleeper coach is equally challenging.
And for those with a weak bladder it can be a nightmare in the nights.
Travelling
by Air, sandwiched between passengers can also be quite cumbersome. Once I was
traveling from Dubai to Chennai by an Emirates flight. I had the misfortune of
having a middle seat, sandwiched between two fat ladies whose body parts were
overflowing onto my seat. They both also dominated the hand rests, so much so
that I could not move either way without brushing them. On top of it one of
them was letting out obnoxious gas quietly. I felt totally suffocated. It was
one of the worst journeys of my life.
Fortunately,
these days if you plan your travel in advance and are booking your seats online
you can choose your seats. Unfortunately this facility is still not available
on the Railways.
Though
the Railways promise that senior citizens will automatically get lower berths in the main part of the bay, it usually does not happen. Very often they
land up with side upper berths. It is cruel to expect old and infirm people to
climb on to this berth without any proper ladder to climb. In my long life I
have fallen down, trying to get onto the side upper berth many times; luckily
without any collateral damages to my body!
