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It is a fond and enduring memory, the annual trips my family and I would take from Bombay to cities in South India whenever schools shut for the summer. This was in the early 1980s, and we would often find ourselves at Victoria Terminus in the first week of May, ready to board one of many trains that would carry us across the country.

Having said that, when I think of those journeys now, I am aware of how nostalgia can colour the past. It's why several unpleasant images also come to mind when I ask myself if those trains were comfortable. I recall railway stations with the bare minimum of facilities, rusted faucets with no signs of running water, and a complete absence of clean waiting rooms or toilets.

Luckily, this is how things were back when India was managed by politicians who weren't in touch with the people. It's a far cry from today's trains which, based on government ads in newspapers, are arguably among the finest on Earth. I haven't been on a train out of Bombay in decades, and viral videos on social media appear to show that little has changed for the poor who can't afford a First Class sleeper ticket, but are those videos real? How can they be, if one reads any of the press releases issued by the Railway Ministry?

Consider the latest announcement of an Automated Teller Machine installed inside a moving train. It filled me with the kind of joy I usually reserve only for the renaming of a building or city. For those of you who haven't been filled in, the Central Railway has launched an ATM on the Panchavati Express connecting Nashik and Bombay. They say it is to enable passengers to withdraw cash while the train is in motion which, as most travellers would attest to, is one of the things all trains could benefit from. In fact, even as a teenager, I remember thinking to myself that the one amenity most of my fellow-travellers would appreciate more than anything was access to banking services while travelling from Bombay to Bangalore.

Who amongst us has not thought about how much better a train journey could be with an ATM nearby? Who amongst us has taken a seat only to realize, with horror, that there are things to be purchased and not enough money in our wallets? Apparently, this ATM has been placed in a cubicle at the rear of the coach, locked by a shutter, and under 24×7 CCTV observation. If it makes enough travellers happy, more machines will be installed on other trains.

It may be churlish of me to point out that there were 105 ATM burglaries in Delhi alone between October 2018 and August 2022, according to some reports.

Also, banks have allegedly lost approximately '235 crore over the last five years due to burglary and theft. I'm sure they have considered these facts before signing off on that ATM though.

If any representative of the Railways reads this, I would like to express profound gratitude, along with a tentative wish list of less important things we could use on trains. Cleanliness comes to mind, for some reason, because I have never found that to be a particularly strong suit. Perhaps a few vacuum cleaners on board to tidy the spaces under seats? Then there is that minor annoyance regarding personal hygiene. What if toilets were just a little better? What if there were some means of ensuring they had enough water, soap, or even some kind of self-cleaning mechanism? After all, so many poorer countries across Asia mysteriously manage this. Couldn't a team of hard-working managers from the Railways find out how? They could even turn it into a taxpayer-funded junket, a ‘fact-finding' mission of the kind favoured by so many of our ministers.

Until that happens though, I still rest easy knowing that our elected representatives are working constantly to make our lives better. This ATM plan proves it. It is also obvious that they have their ears to the ground and are aware of what the common man desires most.

For those still in doubt, just a few weeks ago, one of our most intelligent ministers announced plans to introduce a law that would ban vehicle horns. What will be used instead are sounds inspired by Indian musical instruments - flute, tabla, or harmonium. Sure, it doesn't mean the cacophony of our streets will die, but at least it will sound sweeter.

BMC will start to acknowledge that at some point too, even if it's not a lucrative audience to care about.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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