Shweta Ghone, railway goods guard. PIC/SHRIKANT KHUPERKAR

From Mumbai Central to Dadar, Dadar to Kurla, and then Kurla to Panvel — this is the daily journey of Shweta Ghone, who was recently inducted as a railway goods guard in the Mumbai division and is currently working in the Panvel section.

The job of a goods guard is a tough one with many times these trains having to take a back seat and wait for mail or express trains to pass. But Ghone has been reporting to work sharp at 7.30 am everyday. She said the guard’s cab­in in a goods train doesn’t ha­­ve a window or a proper place to sit, as well as no fan or light, which becomes particularly inconvenient. "During such times, I wait it out with a newspaper. If it gets particularly difficult, then I come outside and stand till we get a green signal," she said.

Recalling an incident on the tracks, Ghone said that the train she was on accidentally ran over cattle that had been crossing. "But the driver was considerate towards me and asked me not to come down, saying he’d manage it with the assistant driver," she said.
After her father’s death — he was a senior mechanical fitter in the Matunga car­sh­ed — her mot­her was offered a job in the railways, but she requested that her daughter be given one instead.