Mumbai: From empty trains at Virar to terror attacks, the man who has seen it all

Imagine a Western Railway WR local with just two to three commuters at Mira Road fisherwomen getting onboard at Naigaon This was a time when local trains used to have a leisurely schedule and motorman Arvind Vishnu Bapat saw it all change as Mumbai grew during his 43year service tenure He retires this weekendBapat was born on February 18 1961 in Gwalior Madhya Pradesh He is one of the few city motormen with zero incidents of train overshooting signal passing unsafe driving or delaysTaking us through his kaleidoscopic memories he says ldquoI joined the WR in 1978 aged 17 after my father a senior divisional medical officer passed away When I took charge of trains in 1982 we used to have English electric trains from the Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon Company Driving was a pleasure back thenrdquo he saidldquoA motormanrsquos life is trains We do not get regular weekly offs but rest days We neither have a social life nor do we get to celebrate festivals muchrdquo he saidldquoLife on the tracks today is much more hectic With a Virar local every 510 minutes and a driving time of three hours we have to be alert about two things mdash the signals that pass by at a fast pace and the stop mark at stations This requires a high level of concentrationrdquo Bapat saidWaterlogging woesBapatrsquos memories of stations contrast what motormen get to see today ldquoMira Roadrsquos eastern side used to be salt pan land Most of the vegetable growers would board from there at 330 am Naigaon was known for fisherwomen Very few people stayed beyond Borivlirdquo he saidArvind Bapat was born in Gwalior MPRecalling waterlogging over the years Bapat said ldquoWe used to have waterlogging at Grant Road Parel and Matunga I was once stuck at Bandra station for two hoursrdquoBapat also operated trains at a time when there were around 19 level crossing gates between Matunga and Dahisar Now there are none ldquoDays with Bharat bandh or Maharashtra bandh were most difficult we used to get protection Eventually the windshields of old trains were replaced with bulletproof lookout glass During one such bandh a mob threw stones at my train at Vasai and its windshield broke They dispersed after an RPF inspector fired in the airrdquo Bapat saidHarsh memoriesldquoTrespassing and runovers are a harsh memory During the textile strike of 1980s many mill workers attempted suicide between Lower Parel and Dadar Once a person on the tracks near Kandivli didnrsquot notice the train I hooted hard and he quickly lay down flat I hit the brakes hard and two coaches passed over him But he survived without a scratch In another incident a woman with a child jumped to her death at Bhayandar In the 1980s a schoolboy in uniform committed suicide These incidents are painful but we are helpless My guru a senior Parsi motorman Karsi Kapadia taught me to be bold and not get drained emotionallyrdquo Bapat saidBomb blasts are another difficult memory Recalling the 2006 serial train blasts Bapat said ldquoI had spent a night at the car shed after my train got cancelled Next morning I was horrified to see the battered local trains which arrived at the car shed covered in mud blood with slippers and sandals strewn everywhererdquo ldquoIt has been a rollercoaster ride during which I grew with the city and trains and it all ends this weekrdquo Bapat concludedZeroThe Impeccable Mr Bapat finishes his 43year career without a single violation for overshooting signal passing unsafe driving or late arrival1978Year Arvind Bapat joined the railways17yrsBapatrsquos age when he joined the railways