Monsoon Railway -BBC TV prog

incitatus

On BBC 4 Thursday 28 (Part 1) and Friday 29 June (Part 2) at 22.00hrs

Monsoon Raliway
1/2. Each year Indian Railways struggles to operate during the four-month Monsoon season. This programme looks at the difficulties faced by the workers and tells the story of the history of the worlds second-largest employer. [S]


50mins Stereo Widescreen

ChrisJ

This is the third time the BBC have shown this documentary - which I guess shows how fond they are of it.

Its a rare gem amongst documentaries and one not to be ignored. I'm surprised it wasn't nominated for an award.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documen...-railway.shtml

steven_ber

I liked the programmes a lot.

I'm interested in Indian Railways, but I'm no rail enthusiast, I find most programmes about Indian Railways are aimed at the rail enthusiasts, but these programmes were very much about individuals who work for the railways and about the difficulties they and Indian Railways face during the monsoon.

The programmes are well made and even people who have no interest in Indian Railways will enjoy them.

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Familyonthemove

I hope they put it on BBC Satellite - as I missed it when I was in the UK.

On second thoughts, there's no point, as Tata Sky does not work in the monsoon!

Nick-H

I think I saw this sometime back, or at least some, by chance on BBC world?

Is it the one where they show the rebuilding of a washed-away line (built with amazing speed)? --- and the guy who had to drive the first train over it to test it. Phew!

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steven_ber

Yes, that's the one.

jyotirmoy

My father a Civil Engineer worked as a bridge designer for the Railways in the forties. A big part of my childhood was spent living in a saloon in very very remote areas. A hand pushed trolley came every alternate days with rations from the nearest station often tens of miles away. Both officers & workers had to face a very difficult time in these wilderness and monsoons made it even worse. Leeches & snakes were every where. Often curious hordes of Elephants visited the construction sites. It was the dedicated work of very sincere people which made Indian Railways what it is today.

Nick-H

In that case, there are very few TV programs that stick in my mind like that. A Good One indeed!

Jyoti... What a brilliant childhood!

Mickey S

On Saturday evening in London we had such a torrential downpour that my satellite signal disappeared. It was the first time my reception had ever been affected by weather, and even though it lasted no more than 30 seconds it was a huge inconvenience (coming at the climax of the latest episode of Doctor Who!).

To what extent does Tata Sky not work? Only when it's raining heavily, I presume? How many hours a day?

CliveG

I thought it was a brilliant programme. Three things stood out.
Firstly that Indian Railways is the largest single employer in the world with over 1 million employees (A great piece of trivia to amaze people with over a beer). Secondly that all details of train timetables, delays etc. are written by hand in ledger books - and it works! Thirdly the speed with which they repaired the broken track - would that happen here in the U.K. - I don't think so!

Prashant.M

Tata Sky has not worked for me twice during heavy rains. These were the only two times I was watching TV and it rained heavily. So I am thinking that the signal will be lost every time it rains. Monsoon has not hit Bangalore hard yet. So gotta wait and see what happens.

Once the signal was lost for more than 5 minutes. I got frustrated and switched off. When I switched on half an hour later the signal was back on and the rain also had lightened up; don't know if they are anyway connected.

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rangss

As a "rail enthusiast" i can tell you that these kind of programmes are as much interesting to me as any other rail-related stuff.

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roopesh_kohad

Completely agree to this. Until computer age came, India's best and sincere minds worked for railways. Even now the first preference for IES (Indian Engg Services) graduate is Indian Railways.

Hats off to your dad and people like him that we have such a large railway network functioning.

goangoangone

Yes, torrential rain affects all TV satellite signals. The rain usually eases after a few minutes and the signal will reset. I've had Dish TV more than a year, it's just the same.

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Prashant.M

So the signal does not reset after 30 seconds? Does this mean that I will lose signal every time it rains hard and regain it only after it abates? I remember being told that the signal will reset and come back on about 30 seconds later.