On July 10, a rain-soaked Tuesday in 2018, the railway tracks between Nallasopara and Vasai stations were submerged in over two metres of water. Even though the National Disaster Response Force, police, and fire brigade were deployed to rescue immobilised passengers, Rajesh Mhatre, then Assistant Station Master at Vasai Road Station, swung into action himself. He contacted the granthi of Guru Nanak Gurudwara on Ambadi Road and sought food and water for stranded passengers and the railway staff. Within hours, the gurudwara dispatched lunch, milk, tea, and biscuits to the train-bound. “This can only happen when a station master establishes good relations with people and institutions around his station,” says Mhatre, with a sense of accomplishment.The outreach would have been captured by the news, but perhaps not Mhatre’s reflection on the incident. That’s what the Western Railway’s Podcast—the only podcast launched by the Indian Railways—aims to do. Told by a range of people who play a role in the running of the railway, the video podcast explains how the different parts of this colossus work and, by foregrounding backstories, context, and reflections, also calls attention to the nerve, skill, and heart it takes to operate it.Mhatre, now the Station Master at Virar, is featured in the latest episode of the podcast (released on September 6). The episode takes listeners into a control room and offers insight into the weight of responsibility carried by the officers there. We learn, for instance, that the Panel Station Master, who oversees train operations and signalling from a complex LED panel, works a 6-hour shift because of the intense nature of the job, where crucial decisions have to be made in a matter of seconds.It’s a pacey, well-scripted show that combines a studio interview with footage from the field, shot through with rousing music. “When planning the podcast, we were clear that the quality had to be top-notch; the scripting, camerawork, editing—everything had to be professional,” says Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, whose own PR team makes the podcast. “It was created to tell WR’s stories that don’t always make the news, but which the railway’s 3.5 million passengers ought to know.“The podcast, which was launched this February on WR’s YouTube channel, drops a new episode every three weeks, with the inaugural one celebrating 100 years of electrification of the railways. Subsequent episodes have featured Prashant Mazumdar, the timetable controller of Mumbai Division; Preeti Kumari, Asia’s first motorwoman; Sanjayram Dukhiram, Churchgate’s shoeshiner of 25 years; and even actor Nana Patekar, who, when asked what role he’d prefer if he worked at the station, quipped ‘Ticket Collector’. (As a boy, Patekar was caught travelling ticketless but was let off by the TC because it was Diwali.)Every episode offers telling insights into the thinking behind the railway’s crucial decisions. Mazumdar, the timetable controller, recalls July 11, 2006, the day of the seven deadly bomb blasts on the city’s commuter trains. “When news of the blasts broke, Western Railway cut power between Churchgate and Virar stations to stop trains from running. This was done to protect passengers who, having heard news of the blasts, might have tried to jump off a train and risk being hit by an oncoming one.“CPRO Abhishek believes the podcast plays the dual role of storyteller and archiver, documenting the ideas, attitudes, and emotions that slip between the hard facts of newsprint and the clinical copy of official communiques. But while it sets out to inform and edify, the initiative is also a public relations exercise. “Public opinion is a big factor,” Abhishek admits, “Any service organisation in a complex country like ours will face public perception challenges. Although we operate suburban trains every 3-3.5 minutes, with 96 local train rakes running 1,406 services a day, the perception is always that a lot more should be done.”The podcast, which is available on YouTube in video format, will soon be accessible on Spotify, with the frequency increasing to once a week. “WR has a workforce of 90,000 people. We will never run out of content,” says Abhishek confidently.But even as it aims to reveal the inner workings of the institution, as a govt entity, it knows where to draw the line. “Our biggest challenge is to ensure all the facts presented are accurate. So, a lot of effort goes into the scripting and editing,” says Abhishek. “There’s always the risk of someone saying something unintentional, which may create controversy.” To avoid this risk, their thumb rule is: when in doubt, cut it out.
