WR travels back to WW II era with timetables

MUMBAI: Over half a century ago, well before the concept of super dense crush loads in local trains came into being, suburban railway timetables, a staple for today's city commuter, were not as Plain Jane as they are today. They were like magazines, with advertisements of not only railway-related announcements but also those of cigars, and dance, movie and theatre showings.
For example, the makers of the movie Chandralekha revealed its shows as well as its production cost of Rs 35 lakh.
The booklets were also favourites with advertisers of hotels, newspapers, fabrics, leather work and watches, ghee, fairness cream and sweets, with local trains themselves being taglined 'A vital link between work and home'.
Western Railway (WR) officials have found timetables dating back to the World War II era, though officials acknowledged that there were timetables much before that too, but they are not available.
Leafing through an old railway journal, a senior WR official showed an extract from the TOI (December 1923) which stated that "WR local services started in 1867 and for the first three years there was only one train each way between Back Bay and Virar, presumably because there were then no suburbs worth speaking of". The services increased with time. "Initially, when there was only one service in either direction, there was no use of a timetable," he said.
The oldest timetable with WR in 1939 shows that there were 102 services, including 14 to Virar. There were 77 services on holidays and the timetables were monthly. Timetables from that year show that two-route tickets and return weekend tickets existed.
Till 1948, mainline trains and suburban locals featured in the booklet, which was then converted into a quarterly. At that time, WR ran 110 services; 92 on Sundays and holidays. In 1956, WR started a booklet for commercial and in-house use. Also that year, on October 15, eight-coach trains were introduced.
The timetables, which silver fish made inroads into, throw up trivia like the fact that there used to be separate refreshment rooms for Hindus, Muslims and the English in 1939. Most items were priced in annas (16 annas were a rupee). For example, tea cost two annas in general rooms and one anna for Hindus and Muslims. The disparity in pricing depended on whether it was served in a tray or not. Soldiers and their families got discounts.
"In the Hindu canteen, 12 puris and two vegetable dishes cost 10 annas, while at the Muslim canteen, chicken curry with rice cost eight annas," the official added.
Earlier, WR had day excursion tickets which were for arranged trips to nearby tourist spots like Vasai Fort, then called Bassein Fort. They cost Rs 2 and one anna in 1939.
There were also 'cheap shopping tickets' which commuters could avail of at 11.45 am, for travel during non- peak hours. The cost of a second class ticket was seven annas from Churchgate to Andheri and double for a return journey.
In 1941, around 1.2 lakh passengers used WR each day, of which a third traveled during peak hours. The official said the city's population was then 14.86 lakhs.
The year 1961 saw many changes. Fast trains were introduced, timetables turned half yearly and nine-car trains were introduced. The peak hour frequency increased to four minutes and six lakh people were travelling by WR.
"Few know that WR wagons used to carry small aeroplanes and motorboats, which have been mentioned in the timetables. Advertisements petered out in 1956 and are rarely seen now," he said.
WR plans to make all this information public by scanning and putting interesting timetable pages on its website. The booklets will also be kept in its heritage gallery. A lot of railway history is undocumented.