India, Dec. 18 -- When union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke in Parliament on Wednesday about procuring 238 air-conditioned locals with automatic doors for Mumbai, he was likely unaware of a technical glitch from earlier in the day that exposed lapses and offered a much-needed reality check.

It was 12.10pm when the 10.42am Badlapur-CSMT (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus) AC local shunted into Dadar, 15 minutes behind schedule. Commuters inside the train and on the platform jostled towards the doors, eager to board or alight from the local and get on with their routine. But to their dismay, the doors did not part for nearly five minutes, leaving them stranded and frustrated.

"The train halted at Dadar for about five minutes. ...