Metro motormen: Happy and confident getting back to work

After having worked as a motorman in Kolkata Metro for more than 15 years, Tapash Bhattacharya had a sudden moment of realisation in 2000. As he pressed the button to close the Metro doors at Dum Dum station, he saw a little girl rushing towards the train with her father. Seeing it already in motion, the girl started sobbing and the last thing Tapash could hear was that she’d be scolded again for reporting late to school.“She reminded me of my daughter and I requested the chief operation manager to schedule the next train from Dum Dum earlier than its scheduled time. He kept my request. That day I realised that besides being a huge responsibility, there’s something noble about my profession,” Tapash told us on Sunday.

Happy and proud yet anxious
Tapash and his fellow colleagues – who missed being on duty for the last six months – are not just happy to resume work from today, but also looking forward to serving crowds of passengers after the quiet months of lockdown.
Tapash thinks timely and safe ferrying of people is a huge responsibility and he is proud of what he does. “From ensuring students reach their exam halls on time to saving employees from getting late for work and sometimes making a father meet his newborn as soon as possible – it is a matter of pride and I’m very satisfied with what I do,” he said.
However, the challenges of working in the COVID era have led to a sense of anxiety as well. Asim Ghosh, another motorman, is worried about how to maintain social distancing. “As long as I am in the driver’s cabin, there’s no problem. But what if the train malfunctions? In that case, the driver will have to go to the compartment. How will we save ourselves from being exposed to the crowd then? That’s my only concern,” shared Asim.
For Gautam Bose – who has been working in Metro Railway since 2001 – the main concern now is crowd management. Despite the special courses on hygiene and avoiding exposure conducted for them, he thinks that passengers will have a major role to play in ensuring safety. “The authorities have provided us with all the protective gears and trained us to use them. Now it’s up to the passengers to follow the rules and behave responsibly,” he said.

Practice in the lockdown
Great concentration, acute precision and quick reflexes are some of the prerequisites for a motorman’s job. To make sure they stay in their top forms despite Metro services being on halt, the drivers continued to practise in the lockdown. “Besides special online courses, we had to go for practical lessons once a week. So, I’m very confident that I’ll be able to do my job perfectly well,” said Gautam.
Asim, on the other hand, thinks that his anxieties will be over once he is back to work on Monday. “I’m feeling exactly how Sachin Tendulkar would have felt before a high-voltage match. I’m sure it will be alright once I drive across a couple of stations," he said, adding, “Like a good swimmer never forgets how to swim, I can’t forget all that I have learnt over the years by staying away from work for just six months.”
Ever since he joined in 2001, Gautam has not seen empty stations and driving the train from one empty station to another was painful for him. “Thousands of people used the train and we know many of them by their faces. When I drove through the empty stations, I couldn’t help but feel the pain. Seeing the crowd from Monday will surely cheer us up,” he added.

Indrani Banerjee, metro spokesperson, said "During these five and a half months of lockdown Metro Rly has been doing thorough maintenance of its assets particularly the ones related to passenger amenities. Our motormen have been running our staff specials for the past two and a half months and are always in readiness. Let us now start our commercial services under the new normal with the cooperation of our commuters".