There is a specific kind of panic that happens on the platform at the Kamalapur station right before the doors open. You can have a confirmed ticket safely in your pocket. You can know your exact seat number. But the moment the Rajshahi train pulls in, everyone acts like the seats are going to evaporate into thin air.
I used to stand near the back of the crowd. I thought it was polite to wait my turn. I learned very quickly that being polite just means you lose your overhead storage space.
The luggage racks in the S_CHAIR and even the Snigdha carriages are not designed for modern packing habits. They are narrow metal bars. They are meant for soft bags, small canvas sacks, and cardboard boxes. People completely ignore this reality. They drag massive hard-shell suitcases down the narrow center aisle and then try to shove them into a space that is physically too small.
It holds up the entire boarding process. People get angry. Someone usually drops a heavy box on a stranger’s foot. The ticket inspector starts yelling at people to clear the gangway.
I stopped traveling with wheeled luggage three years ago. I only use a soft canvas duffel bag.
When I get on the train, I do not wait in the aisle behind the person fighting with their plastic suitcase. I walk right past them. A soft bag can be squeezed into the tiny gaps between other people’s bulky luggage. If the overhead rack is completely full, I can shove my duffel under the seat in front of me. You cannot do that with a rigid plastic box.
Last month I watched a man argue with the inspector for ten minutes because his massive suitcase would not fit anywhere in the Snigdha car. He ended up having to leave it out near the sliding doors. He spent the entire six-hour trip getting up every fifteen minutes to make sure nobody had taken it. He could not even sleep.
That sounds like an exhausting way to travel.
You have to pack for the reality of the transit hardware. The railway does not care if you want to bring five pairs of shoes and a hair dryer. The space is the space. I limit myself to exactly what fits in one soft bag. It forces me to leave the extra bulky items at home. I wear my heaviest jacket on the train just to save room in the bag, even if the station is boiling hot.
It is uncomfortable for the first twenty minutes. But it means I can walk onto the train, throw my bag in a tiny gap, and sit down while everyone else is still arguing in the aisle.