Tuesday, 26 March 2013

On board Yangon's Circular Railway


Video taken on the Yangon Circular Railway

Video taken in a Yangon Circular Railway station

Yangon Central Railway Station, Yangon

Yangon Central Railway Station, Yangon

Waiting in the wrong train, Central Railway Station, Yangon

Empty locomotive, Central Railway Station, Yangon

 Yangon Central Railway Station, Yangon

IN ALL TRUTH i meant to board the train for just a quick look-see. In the space of a few hours, what should have been a simple hop-on, hop-off exercise, got inflated into this blog post instead.

In the shadow of the station platform roof, here at Yangon Central Railway Station, i tried to avoid the sticky afternoon heat. There was no escaping it on the platform so i waited in the railway carriage, hoping to find a cross-draft. No luck there either –  just more hot and humid waiting and more waiting. I shuffled to the locomotive, up at the front. An aging diesel electric unit, sat out in the sun, silent and deserted, with it's cabin door wide open. Then i walked back down the the end of the train. Finally i discovered that i was on the wrong platform. Now i picked my way across two or three pairs of tracks. After this interminable length of time, a whistle sounded, a train approached and the crowd began to surge towards the edge of the platform. Soon i jostled my way aboard as the whistle sounded. The battered carriage jerked forward and the train began to rumble and sway it's way slowly out of the station. The interior was worn and basic, not crowded, with the odd hawker moving between the passengers. I decided to step over a rope near the end of the wagon and sit across from a policeman. I had no idea why the rope was there, or why i even stepped over it, but that is where i found myself. The accompanying video tells the rest of the story. 

Myanmar Railways operates a commuter rail network that serves the Yangon Metropolitan area. The wikipedia entry mentions that it is a 46 kilometre (29 mile) loop system serving 39 stations. 


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