India's largest subway/transit system lies in the capital city Delhi with ~393 kms of total length and has a automated section that allows for driverless trains. The success of Delhi metro [which was 2nd in India after Calcutta built in 1970s] proliferated to other cities as well. The following image snapped five years is from Lucknow, when the section was only ~8 kms in operation from airport to rail station. It had four rail cars and not even four folks probably used it. I went out of my way to use the service and found only myself standing on the empty platform waiting for the train. The following image presents a unique solitude that is gone now[ the network has somewhat grown, so some more people use it and trains are not empty like the Sahara desert].
[Couple of low quality images since I deleted the originals and retrieved them from a compressed form]. Images taken in early December. You can see the train driver giving the green flag [along with tooting the horn] indicating the Intercity train to the state capital is ready to leave the station. The engine, I think, was a WAP-5, which in theory can go upto ~200 kph on it's own and carry a train load of 22 coaches upto ~160 kph under operation. However, due to shitty tracks, they are limited to 110 kph on this route. [Tracks worse than this exist too not far from this station. I travelled last year on a branch line which had primitive looking stations, sephamore style signalling and the train was creaking like a sinusoidal wave not crossing ~50 kph. That track apparently has been electrified now with better signalling but it goes to show that bad tracks are the main underlying problems plaguing rail transportation in India]. In the second image, there is another train standing on the other platform going in the reverse direction. Earlier, Indian Railways used to have ICF [Integral Coach Factory] models which were, IIRC, based on a 1955 Swiss version basically and were/still are with some improvement in blue livery. The red liveried versions are German made, Linke Hoffman Busche, and are based on a modern design. As far as I know, in a head on collision, the LHB coaches won't completely overturn and crumple up crushing everyone inside unlike ICF variants. The LHB coaches were earlier given only to certain prestigious trains before they were rolled out much more widely.
Images from last month from the city of Allahabad/Prayagraj. The city is usually famous for a religious gathering called Kumbh Mela , where millions of people attend. This was NOT one of those times . This is a satellite station of the city; meant to accomodate trains that the main station can't. As visible in the first image, the secondary platform width is still at a much lower position indicating it hasn't gone much change since it was built. More curious is the second image where, for the first time I watched, animals engaged in rail work in a modern city. The third image is a close up of an electric engine standing at the station. It had a very laid back feel to it once the trains had gone and almost a calming effect walking through it. It was quite different from that of the main station, located ~2kms away where the hustle and bustle never stops.
