I haven't stepped foot in a railway station since 2013. Back then, coincidentally, we took a mix of train and bus to reach Kannur. This year, the experience was markedly different. We took the Vande Bharat Express from Kannur to Ernakulam.
The gap between my last visit and today highlighted a massive shift in infrastructure. The most telling change wasn't just the high-speed train waiting on the tracks—it was the station itself. It had elevators.
The End of Friction
To some, an elevator might seem trivial. But I found myself thinking back to the choices we had years ago. You had to navigate stairs across tracks using the overbridge. If you had heavy luggage, your only real option was to hire a porter—or "coolie"—who would carry the load on their head while balancing bags in their hands.
This was a system born of friction. The infrastructure was difficult to navigate, so we relied on manual human labor to bridge the gap.
This time, I didn't see any coolies on the platform.
With the introduction of elevators and escalators across many Indian platforms, and the ubiquity of wheeled luggage, the reliance on manual labor for basic mobility is fading. We simply rolled our bags from the entrance to the train.
The Evolution of Jobs
The disappearance of the porter doesn't mean the service has vanished; it has evolved. Another significant development was the presence of battery-operated carts for those with difficulty walking.
This represents a fundamental shift in the nature of work. We are moving from a model of physical endurance—carrying heavy loads on heads—to a model of skilled operation. The job is no longer about muscle power; it is about operating a vehicle to assist passengers. It suggests an infrastructure that is finally designing for accessibility and dignity rather than just capacity.
Productivity on the Move
The Vande Bharat Express itself reinforces this shift. In the past, train travel was often "dead time." Today, the environment has changed.
With USB ports, charging points, and onboard WiFi, the train is no longer just a transport vessel; it is a mobile workspace. For business travelers, this changes the value proposition. The downtime of travel can now be productive time. This is a crucial development for a country that is digitizing rapidly.
The Scale of Change
It is an exciting time for Indian Railways. Since their debut in 2019, the Vande Bharat fleet has grown rapidly. As of late 2025, there are over 160 operational Vande Bharat services connecting states across the country (Source: Press Information Bureau).
To put the network in perspective, Indian Railways manages the fourth-largest railway system in the world by route length, trailing only the United States, China, and Russia. However, it is often cited as the world's largest passenger carrier, moving billions of people annually—a logistical feat that few other networks attempt, let alone sustain (Source: Global Firepower).
The modernization we are seeing—from high-speed Vande Bharat trains to the elevators in Kannur—is not just about comfort. It is about efficiency. When infrastructure removes friction, it changes the economic and social dynamics of the cities it connects.
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