I take a local train for Tilak Bridge from Old Faridabad to go to office. Since my father used to travel by the local train and not by metro, he encouraged me to take the train as it is cheaper. I was sceptical at first because I used to commute via local train during my childhood. Since I have travel anxiety, I used to worry about the rush, about the people standing on the doors, and the task of grabbing a seat.
I took the metro a few times, but it cost me around Rs 120, which was way more than what I pay for the local train. My dad recommended a pass which costs around Rs 200-300 and it lasts for three months, whereas the one-way ticket is for Rs 10. I tried searching for an app where I could get to know the train timings. But the frequency is really low — it takes 45 minutes for a train to arrive. During summer, it is extremely hot and sweaty and it becomes really difficult to stand amid the body odour of so many people.
In some compartments, people used to carry mics and play bhajans, which used to irritate me. But the large part of the audience used to enjoy. Especially during summers, it became unbearable — remember when I used to get down at the Tilak Bridge station, I used to be drenched in sweat. So, the main problem is the frequency and also the sweaty journey during summers. The crowd makes it worse. Metros have AC coaches, which at least gives people relief during summers. But for those who have to cover such a long distance, it can become costly for daily commutation.
Vihaan Singh is a mechanical engineer and a resident of Faridabad
— As told to Shatakshi Dwivedi
A risky bus journey
I travel by bus every day to work from Noida sector 18 to Greater Noida. On an average, the time taken to cover the same distance by bus is three times of that taken by Metro. The frequency of buses is very low.
People end up wasting a lot of time just because of the poor transport system. People often put their life at stake in order to catch the bus because they know if they wait for the next bus to arrive, it might take a lot time. The DMRC increased the metro fares, which makes it unaffordable for daily commutation for some people.
There are not many bus stops, so every day I have to walk a lot to first reach the bus stop. Buses don’t have a proper schedule. If you want to start your trip at a particular time, you need to be minimum 15 minutes early. It is difficult to predict when you will reach your destination because of the erratic stops and congestion. Traffic is a big problem since it’s not same every day and cannot be predicted, which is both time killing and increases your stress. There are lots of way too many stops in between a journey. If your journey is 20 kms, then there will be more than 20 stops. Thus, the buses get really crowded during office hours and makes it difficult to cope.
Bus journeys are definitely not easy — which is why most people who can afford, they travel by metro and avoid taking buses. Especially, when you are going for work you need to reach on time. In case of metro, the frequency is good, so is the speed and also there is no issue of traffic.
Yogendra Jaiswal works as a cashier in a corporate office and stays in Noida Sector 29
— As told to Shatakshi Dwivedi
