New Delhi Express

[johnnigh]

Members might be interested in today's Radio National documentary, available on the web:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/elsewhere/

New Delhi Express

India's rail network is often referred to as the nation's life blood. It was begun by the British in the late 19th century and is now one of the most extensive in the world. Roz Bluett visits one of India's busiest stations where, caught up in the romance of Indian train travel, she buys a second-class ticket and heads west.

Train trips

Sound artists Stuart Hall and Dean Edwards capture sonic events such as the Super-Freighters running between Adelaide and Melbourne, as well as a suite of train and suburban acoustics, night-time crickets, distant traffic and thundering locomotives.


I can add personal experience of a Super-Freighter. Cycling toward Stirling from Magill in Adelaide during Tour Down Under week, our bunch of 25 riders was caught at a crossing. I'd been hearing a freighter for about 15 minutes as our road ran downhill for quite a few km, roughly parallel to the line. I and two others had hit the front of our bunch and got away a bit, but after crossing the rail line, we stopped as lights flashed and the boom came down while the rest of the bunch were on the other side. The freighter had multiple locos, maybe even three, it was travelling at maybe 60kph and took what seemed minutes to pass. I've not seen such a train before and may never see it again