NEW DELHI, April 15 -- Getting up early at 4.30 a.m., I rushed to the Raipur railway station to catch my train. I browsed through my mobile at the station to see what platform my South Bihar Express would arrive at. Surprisingly, it said the train was arriving four hours late. Though the train commences only from Durg, just one hour's journey from Raipur, it starts from there four hours late. And it would reach my destination, Akaltara, at 2 p.m. when the temperature is high instead of 10.30 a.m.

Unwilling to sit for four hours at the station, I opted to travel by the upcoming Shivnath Express, which would be 1 hour 43 minutes late. Since I could not travel by South Bihar's reserved ticket of Rs 140/-, I had to purchase another ticket of...