Reportage: Archana Masih
Photograph: Jewella C Miranda

One train arrives or leaves the CST suburban station every one-and-half minutes during peak hour.

The peak hour is between 8.30 and 11 in the morning and between 5 and 8 in the evening.

"The overall punctuality in 2003-2004 was 91.87 percent," says the friendly Station Manager V T Koshy, who has been with the Railways for eighteen-and-a-half years.

Five hundred and fifty motormen or drivers and 421 guards run the trains, the former clocking 84 working hours every fortnight.

Since theirs is the most crucial job in terms of commuter safety, they undergo a thorough medical test once every four years till the age of 45, once every two years till 55 and every year after that till retirement.

There are 12 station managers, three of whom are on the platform during the day.

"We have the moral responsibility of whatever happens between platform one and seven," says Mr Koshy.

For a station that sees 1,500 fish baskets off loaded every morning, with commuters dodging yucky water dripping from wicker baskets, Koshy says his cleaning staff does a thorough cleaning after the fisherfolk are through.

And this is after they have already done the early morning cleaning routine.

Of the 120 cleaning personnel in fluorescent orange uniforms, 12-13 are deployed in ensuring cleanliness through the day.