Dangerous Festival Trains

[Euclid]

I think most people have seen images of this sort of thing before.  It might be interpreted as just the normal train overcrowding in third world countries.  Of course, it looks absurdly dangerous, and something that would not normally be allowed.  Actually, these are special trains carrying people to religious festivals at no charge.  They fill up and the overflow crowd rides wherever they can on the exterior.  This practice is not to be confused with train surfing which is performing daredevil stunts while train hopping.  What seems to possibly offset some of the danger here is the way these people cooperate in a spirit of amplified joy. 

I think this video is very well produced both technically and artistically.  The high quality sound and video technique are as good as it gets.  There are a lot of interesting little dramas going on with all those people in every view.  The video gets right up close and personal to show what this train crowding practice is all about.  There are about a half-dozen other videos done in Bangladesh by creator “blackthorne57”, and they are all equally well done and compelling to watch.   

This video also visits the markets set up on the main line tracks of the railroad, which is another bizarre practice that seems to be asking for trouble.  I have read that these markets are illegal, and the government keeps trying to crack down, but cannot eliminate them.  Particularly intriguing is the art of piling inventory almost just touching the theoretical clearance diagram of the railroad equipment.  One has to wonder about the possible tainting of the food products by sewage discharged from the trains.  More on the markets shows up in the other videos as well.   

Looking at the number of people precariously perched on these trains makes me wonder how they can complete one trip without at least one death.  I looked into that question and find that people do get killed doing this.  But the worst accident, ironically, was a head-on collision with another train, completely unrelated to the dangerous riding practice.  Although I suppose that practice contributed to the death toll due to people riding on the roofs as the trains collided.  Turn up the volume and watch full screen. There is something almost surreal about the murmur of a large crowd as it sails through the lush surroundings on top of a long train. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb830POfP4E&t=71s 

[BaltACD]

Life is cheap, especially in Bangladesh.  Crossing gates weren't operated at a road crossing when one of the trains passed.

[Miningman]

Yes nothing like technology in primitive almost Stone Age societies ...beating their clothes on rocks to clean them and breaking bricks to survive. Be thankful we have developed economies ...and hot water!

[Paul of Covington]

   And some of us on another thread were complaining about the suggestion to reduce the seat pitch on Amtrak trains.

[BaltACD]

Miningman

Yes nothing like technology in primitive almost Stone Age societies ...beating their clothes on rocks to clean them and breaking bricks to survive. Be thankful we have developed economies ...and hot water!

Amazing how those first societies that formed - never impoved much beyond the state of their formation, remaining in the stone age to today.

[mvlandsw]

   It looks like some of those passengers would make good conductors. At least they could hang on the side of a car for the 2 minute test.

[CandOforprogress2]

BaltACD

My Freinds from India take great offence when I mention the fact that people ride on top of trains there. They are tired of National Geographic depicting them as backwards dirty savages. Indias greatest export is doctors and engineers.

 

 

Miningman

Yes nothing like technology in primitive almost Stone Age societies ...beating their clothes on rocks to clean them and breaking bricks to survive. Be thankful we have developed economies ...and hot water!

 

 

Amazing how those first societies that formed - never impoved much beyond the state of their formation, remaining in the stone age to today.

 

[BaltACD]

CandOforprogress2

 

Miningman

Yes nothing like technology in primitive almost Stone Age societies ...beating their clothes on rocks to clean them and breaking bricks to survive. Be thankful we have developed economies ...and hot water! 

Amazing how those first societies that formed - never impoved much beyond the state of their formation, remaining in the stone age to today. 

BaltACD

My Freinds from India take great offence when I mention the fact that people ride on top of trains there. They are tired of National Geographic depicting them as backwards dirty savages. Indias greatest export is doctors and engineers.

Notice what you said.  Export!  Yes they are exporting those who have attained solid education and can no longer stomach the rest of their country that tends to seem to be backward, dirty savages.

Looking at India railway videos, even when passengers are all inside the cars - the people wandering around the tracks, seemingly without regard to their own safety with passing trains does not leave a good image of the country and its people.  

Never having been to India, and with no desire to go there, I can only make judgements on what gets presented on TV and the other visual mediums on the internet.  I am certain every thing shown, on all platforms, has some form of a slant on what is presented, however, returning to you statement about their biggest export being their educated people it makes one wonder why the educated are so anxious to depart to a foreign land and culture.

[Euclid]

I don't see anything for those upper class people of India to be offended about.   Not everyone is a doctor or engineer.  It is what it is.  It is life in the third world.  There is a lot of it out there.  And for as poor as those countries tend to be, they are now progressing at an accelerating pace.  Bangladesh is growing faster than the U.S. today.  We could use a little of the 6-7% growth that those countries are experiencing as they take all our manufacturing jobs by underbidding us.    

In any case, the people riding to the religious festivals on top of the trains seem to be experiencing great joy that permeates the group as a whole.  You can feel it when the train goes by.  People living that life of relative poverty are probably enjoying it to the fullest. 

That general setting, I assume is in the very poor area of the cities.  Those on-track markets are said to be a function of the slums.  There are videos that take you on a tour of the slums.  It certainly must be low income, but still, the spirits seem high.  My feeling about the video is that it is very well made and captures incredibly interesting subject matter with the endless variety of human activities.  The culture does not bother me.  The train roof riding is just bizarre due to its social willingness to accept such extreme danger as part of the celebration.  It almost defies comprehension.  But that is how it is, and they take it in stride. 

There was a railroad in Ecuador that became famous as a tourist destination.  They allowed roof riding and it was very popular among the tourists.  But the basic practice was considered the normal third class accommodation for the local people, practiced traditionally prior to the tourist popularity. Those trains looked a lot like these festival trains of Bangladesh with people packed on every square foot of rooftop cruising through the fabulous mountains.

There is another bizarre train riding practice in some of those countries called "train surfing."  That is intentional flirting with grave danger as a way of showing off.  That too involves roof riding sometimes, but the grim motive is entirely different than riding for pleasure or the expedience of the festival trains. 

Here is a little train surfing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4uSXI_hdTg